Innocent Blood
by Eilidh17
Summary: Kidfic. On a routine mission SG1 runs afoul of the Yahtepec, a race whose roots are locked in Aztec culture. Daniel is kidnapped and downsized to be offered to their gods in accordance with their tradition of child sacrifices. The race is on to save him.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes: **Even though this story is technically classed as Kidfic the content is quite dark in places, especially in regards to descriptions of child sacrifices. Please consider this, as well as the overall story rating, to be a warning should you choose to proceed. Many thanks.

**Innocent Blood**

**By Eilidh17**

Teiuc blinked slowly and, wrinkling her nose, became aware of the stink from the men surrounding her. Their painted bodies and feathered headpieces signaled their stature amongst the temple guards, but she didn't care, Teiuc wasn't afraid of them.

She feared nothing anymore, what was the point? Hatred burned in her soul, and she loved no one, cared for nothing, and despised them all. At first the cold of nothingness had been just a dull ache in her chest where her heart had once been, but like a cancer it had spread.

Like the soreness that came with the progression of old age, it worked its way from her chest into her very essence and through her body, and she let it. Welcomed it like a lover. From this nothingness she would draw strength and the knowledge that more would be lost at the end of this day than just the life of another innocent child.

All around, the cloying scent of maleness disturbed her. Dressed in the finest of feathers and cloth, their lean bronzed bodies shone with sweat, their biceps glistening in the heat. The women of her village looked cooler in knee length, deep green skirts dyed from the leaves of the Auahan plant. Curling her lip, she watched them rustle softly past her, their stink assaulting her as well.

"Fools!" Biting back her loathing, swallowing her hatred, Teiuc clamped her eyes shut and waited patiently.

Jumping as a sudden cheer went up around her, the sounds of jubilation bouncing off the stone walls of the ancient temple, she winced as her body betrayed her the smallest of sobs.

"No!" Rough hands grabbed her arms and dragged her through the frenzied crowd to the bottom of a set of giant steps leading up to the stone altar. This was Teiuc's right, this was her place. Blinking slowly, she stood straight-backed in the place of honor where all the proud parents stood as their children took their place amongst the chosen of the God, Tlaloc.

It started softly at first, a whisper prickling incessantly at the edges of her mind. In a mantra, the small crowd chanted Tlaloc's name over and over, the volume rising incrementally with each word. Teiuc's head pounded, she was no stranger to this madness, she'd heard this too many times before, and had been a willing participant. Slamming her eyes shut in a futile attempt to block the noise, Teiuc tried to cover her ears but strong hands just gripped her even harder. Even that small mercy was denied to her.

Teiuc's mask dropped. The carefully schooled look she'd been trying to display on the outside crumbled like rock as memories of her children scrambled across her mind.

_One by one her babes' lively animated faces, so full of life, were replaced with the mask of horror from their violent deaths. Her children who would never know the god they were dying for. She heard their cries again, beseeching her, calling out to her. Hyperventilating, eyes wide with shock, they kicked desperately, their faces begging for their mother. _

_One swift motion and it was done. _

_The lives of her laughing, brown-eyed children were taken. No more laughter, no more kisses, no more joy. The blood that sprayed from their tiny bodies drenched the attendants and soaked the altar, its sickly sweet smell whipping the crowd into a frenzy. Wild eyed, their faces contorted with madness, the people roared and sank to their knees while the priest raised the still beating heart high in the air. _

Pulled back to the present by bile burning her throat, Teiuc dragged in a ragged breath as a hand grabbed her hair and pulled her head backwards forcing her to look up at the altar. The bright glare of the suns momentarily blinded her and she blinked furiously till her eyes adjusted.

Standing atop the dais were five men. Four of them were partially clad, their upper bodies bare and coated with oils and paint. Small feathers, the tips brightly colored, were woven through long hair that flowed over their muscular shoulders. Standing behind the four men was a fifth. Head and shoulders taller, his ornate headwear and long feathered cloak stood him apart from the rest. Despite the turquoise mask covering his face, Teiuc could easily recognize the man.

Matlal.

Her dark eyes stared at Matlal. Anger, revulsion, hatred all vying for dominance across her tear streaked face. She had loved this man all her life. He was her bonded husband since birth, the High Priest of her small world, and the father of her babes. After each ritual, after another one of her babes had been sacrificed by his hand, she had forgiven him. It was the Aztec way; she accepted this.

Face contorting with hatred, Teiuc knew the well of her forgiveness had just run dry. To sacrifice was to give life; this is what she had believed, but no more. Never again would she watch a child slaughtered.

Teiuc bowed her head, her hatred needing to be hidden. This was the way it was for the Yahtepec people and it was a tradition that had long since lost its meaning in the passages of time. The ritual of human sacrifice was another such tradition so ingrained in the Yahtepec that no one ever questioned the reasoning behind it.

Tlaloc, the god of rain and fertility, demanded sacrifices to ensure plentiful rainfall for the coming season's crops. His wife, the beautiful Goddess of the Water, Chalchiutlicue, required no such homage. She was the giver of life and protector of children. In Teiuc's mind, she could see no reason for their bonding and yet she prayed with passion to Chalchiutlicue, prayed the rains would fall and the rivers would burst.

Greatly feared by the Aztecs, it was well known Tlaloc preferred his sacrifices to be drowned. No quick death, they would be subjected to the cold terror of a river in its winter thaw. Held down to almost the point of death, they would be hauled onto the banks, their tears collected as part of the ritual and submerged again. Whoever believed drowning was a peaceful death had never met Tlaloc.

Teiuc had no such preference. Whatever reasoning there was behind the practice was lost when it became an act of blood lust and desperation. Her once strong belief system had been systematically torn down by grief and the gnawing realization that no matter how many children had met their death in Tlaloc's name, the Yahtepec people were no closer to appeasing him.

Despite all of this, Teiuc had prayed for rain. Death by drowning was a far better option to what awaited their children on top of the altar. What meager food she had spare, Teiuc left as an offering at the temple to Chalchiutlicue.

Fearing this wouldn't be enough, she'd walked for a day to find the flowers of the Lhatzu. Favoured by the goddess, its aromatic bud was only in bloom for seven days in the summer. The walk had been long, her shoulders had blistered in the scorching heat from the twin suns, but the Lhatzu flowers had been worth the effort. Or so she thought.

Chalchiutlicue wasn't listening though. The rains never came, but her husband had.

Teiuc's memory of that last evening spent with Itzli was fractured. Buoyed with assurance from Matlal that Itzli would not be chosen at the naming ceremony, she stayed home to prepare a meal of Hetcul stew. Matlal had promised her no more of their children would be given to Tlaloc. That they had served their god well and provided more noble sacrifice than was required.

Heart heavy with her past losses, Teiuc swept Itzli into her arms and tickled the bare flesh on his tummy. Giggling with glee, his soft brown eyes bright with the joy of living, Itzli tossed his head back and kicked his chubby legs in play, his voice floating through the air like song to his mother's ears.

The evening had been enjoyable. Upon Matlal's return from the naming ceremony, he'd cradled Itzli in his broad arms and twirled around the shelter with him. The food, though overly spiced to make up for its natural blandness, was well received and shared, and the wine Matlal's mother had made last summer was strong and heady with the aroma of dried Hetcul leaves.

Teiuc was happy and tired. Sure the worry of the naming ceremony was the cause of her weariness, she quickly cleared away the remnants of dinner and bid Matlal goodnight. Settling down on her sleeping mat, an arm curled around her beautiful Itzli, she found herself quickly drifting to sleep.

Teiuc woke with a start. Head throbbing with the after effect of too much wine, she struggled to sit up. Scrubbing a shaky hand across her face, and shivering despite the warmth inside the shelter, she reached out to wake Itzli.

His sleeping mat was empty.

Scrambling to her feet, panic ripping through her very being, Teiuc searched every corner of the shelter. With no sign of Itzli, she pulled back the privacy screen and stepped out into the courtyard, ignoring the harsh suns beating down on her semi-naked body.

Pushing through the crowds, Teiuc searched with a desperation tinged by mania. People moved out of her way, some held their ground, but still she searched, fear in her dark eyes. The square was busy and lively, but she knew better; this was no market day, this was a terrible day.

The aroma of the rich xental oil was thick, and her mind swam with its intoxicating scent.

Feathers, their tips died in the greens and blues of Tlaloc and Chalchiutlicue, woven so neatly through the seas of hair, seemed to fly at her from all directions. Pushing her way through the throng, Teiuc called for Itzli, searching the wall of humanity that clamored past. Then she saw it, the look of anguish from women she had known all her life. They knew her child was marked for death.

Despite everything, despite all the promises, the sacrifices she'd made, Matlal had taken her baby. Itzli was gone. Sinking to her knees, Teiuc struggled for breath, her heart wanted to beat out of her chest. Ignoring the stares of the milling crowd, she sobbed her rage and frustration. Looking up, she watched the villagers hurry to the temple of Tlaloc. Everyone would be there to witness her grief. Wrapped up in the fervour of the ritual and their unwavering faith in their gods, Teiuc knew she was alone in her loss and grief.

Her gods had abandoned her, and with a stab of pain, she knew she'd abandoned them as well.

Making her way to the temple as if in a trance, Teiuc pushed her way towards the front of the crowd. Squinting, her hand raised against the sun's glare, she saw a small figure ushered onto the platform.

"Itzli!"

The chanting voices around her fell into hushed silence as all eyes watched the tiny figure shuffle in his overlong robes. Head down, the small child stumbled and tripped as he took the final walk of his very short life. Soon, Teiuc would be forced to bear witness to Itzli's savage death, sacrificed in the name of a faceless god she now detested. Arms aching to hold her baby, Teiuc's eyes never wavered.

The little boy, so used to love and tenderness, was adored by his mother and loved by his family, but today none of that mattered. Stumbling, Itzli sobbed for his mother. Instinctively lurching forward, Teiuc felt her arms yanked painfully behind her back. Nothing would interfere with the child's sacrifice.

The harder she struggled, the crueler her captors became. "Be quiet, woman!" The rough voice ghosted her ear; its sharp tone leaving her in no doubt that any further outbursts would be met with even deadlier force. With a transfixed horror, Teiuc watched her husband raise the dagger, and with a cry, she saw it plunge downward.

Around her the cries of the crowd drowned out her screams.

~oOo~

"Well this is… interesting."

Daniel Jackson looked up at the sky, and wincing, adjusted his clip-on sunshades while pulling his boonie hat down over his forehead. The twin suns of PR6-991 shone down relentlessly on the planet's hard baked earth, creating shimmering mirages in the distance. The planet was a desert and its terrain inhospitable and dangerous. Everywhere, the harshness of the world was obvious.

Dry and withered trees, branches long stripped of foliage, dotted the area, and Daniel was vaguely reminded of a scene from a horror movie. With a grimace, he sighed and muttered sourly, "Wow, Jack is so going to love this place."

Raising his hand to shield his eyes, Daniel shivered; a ghost walking over his grave disturbed his peace. "Okay, that's odd."

Hearing the telltale movements of SG-1 behind him, he listened as the familiar voices floated over to him, and figured they were setting off to scout the immediate area. Turning and jogging over, Daniel felt sweat trickle down his face while he patiently waited for his orders. Finely tuned to the protocols of off-world missions, SG-1 knew what they needed to do long before they walked through the gate.

Scuffing his booted foot across the dusty ground, Daniel frowned at the poor quality of the soil. Looking over at Sam, he shrugged and said, "Doesn't look like this place has seen rain in a good while."

Squinting against the sun, Sam glanced over and nodded, a single bead of sweat trickling down her cheek. "Atmospheric sensors on the UAV confirmed very low levels of water vapor in the atmosphere. Combined with a strong prevalence of high pressure systems, this planet is definitely headed towards becoming a desert in a few centuries." With a quick frown, her fingers deftly dancing over the pad of the small palm pilot she held, Sam added with a sigh, "Orbiting so close to dual suns isn't helping either."

Leaving Sam to her analysis, Daniel unclipped his backpack and let it slide to the ground. Rolling the crick from his shoulder, he focused his attention on the small statue to the left of the DHD.

"Hello!"

Made from grey stone, Daniel figured from some local quarry, the statue stood about two feet tall on a raised rounded pedestal base. Pocked and chipped, its distinctively feminine features were still recognizable despite the tyranny of time and foul weather. The statue had probably been there for centuries, and the archaeologist wondered briefly against what or whom she had stood guard.

Reaching out to caress the shoulders and bust of the figure, Daniel squinted, trying to read its etchings. Small lines of pictographs, barely noticeable under the glare of the hot suns, leapt out him. "You're an Aztec," he whispered.

"I thought you already knew that."

"Jack!"

"Yes?" Jack clasped a hand firmly on Daniel's shoulder and peered over at the figurine. "Like I said, I thought you already knew that."

"I, ah, I did. The MALP image wasn't as detailed as I'd hoped, and the damage to the surface didn't allow for an accurate identification."

"Right." Jack let his hand drop from Daniel's shoulder, and bending over, peered directly into the statue's face. "So, who is he?"

"She."

"What?"

"It's a she. Chalchiutlicue, to be exact."

"I'm not even going try and repeat that one." Standing up, Jack rocked back on his heels, his P-90 resting snugly in the crook of his right arm. "Damn ugly if you ask me."

"Actually, Jack, she was considered to be one of the most beautiful of the Aztec goddesses."

"Well," Jack huffed. "Just goes to show they had no taste whatsoever."

Casting a cynical look at his friend, Daniel resisted the urge to argue back and forth, deciding to investigate the overgrown pedestal. Brushing aside the dead weeds and brambles, he murmured, "Whoever lived here used this as a shrine at some point. I'd say it hasn't been visited in a long time. Odd really."

Running a hand across his brow, Jack flicked the sweat onto the ground, frowning as it sizzled away in the blistering heat. "Why is that?"

"Well…" Throwing Jack a sympathetic look, Daniel pushed his boonie back and unclipped his shades. "Unless they've all died off in the last few months, it's highly unusual for the Aztecs to leave their shrines in such a state."

"Like an offence to their god?"

"Exactly." Freeing the pedestal base from its debris, Daniel took out a small brush and began sweeping around the bottom, running a finger lightly behind the brush as he went.

"Looking for something?"

"I was hoping to find…." Leaning in closer, Daniel could just make out a faint band of script ringing the base of the object. Slipping into lecture mode, ignoring the soft groan from his team-mate, Daniel tapped the base with triumph. Whirling around, his face creased into a grin. "Gotcha!"

"Got what?"

"Sometimes, depending on the ruler at the time, the Aztecs used to leave a blessing around the base of their most sacred shrines." A small frown marring his face, Daniel rocked back on his haunches and sighed. "Most of the pictographs have worn away. I'm guessing from exposure to the elements or a high acid content in the soil."

"Or maybe it's just been here a long time."

"Yes, helpful, Jack… thanks."

Jumping effortlessly to his feet, Daniel placed his brush in his vest and dusted his hand against his pants. Turning around in a neat 360° arc, his expression almost comically quizzical, he stared at the gate and the surrounding area, all the while drumming his fingers on his thigh. "Mm, now that really is odd."

"Odd?"

"Tlaloc."

"Okay." Jack let out a tolerant sigh. "T, who?"

"Tlaloc. Chalchiuhtlicue and Tlaloc were husband and wife. Quite often where you found a statue of one, you'd find one of the other as well, but there's nothing here."

Tilting his cap back, Jack's gaze wandered over the vista. "I got nothing but dust and dead trees."

"Yeah, me too," Daniel muttered, his words tinged with worry. Something didn't add up and the more he thought, the more it bothered him. With one, there was always the other.

"Right, so why don't you sound so happy about that?" Circling Daniel, and gazing harder around him, Jack moved in closer. "Daniel?"

Bristling under Jack's stare and stepping backwards, Daniel shook his head. "Jack, stop rounding me up, there's nothing here but us and a million flying bugs." Casting his gaze back at the weatherworn statue, Daniel frowned, "Tlaloc was known in Aztec mythology as the god of rain and fertility."

"Fertility, you say?" Jack tapped the side of his P-90 playfully. "Well, that doesn't sound too bad to me."

"He was also known for his floods and droughts, and need for human sacrifices, particularly children. Parents were known to drown their children to appease him."

Jack turned his gaze back to the statue, eyebrows raised, and swallowed visibly. "Sacrifices?"

"Jack, the early Aztecs were a pretty blood-lusty lot. Human sacrifice was a way of life for them."

"Not much of a life, if you ask me."

"It was all they knew."

"I'm just saying."

"_O'Neill!"_

Teal'c tinny voiced boomed out from the radio on Jack's vest, and taken unaware, Daniel couldn't help shuddering. Jack tilted his head and raising his eyebrow, mouthed, "Its Teal'c!" Grinning at Daniel's perfect eye roll, he smothered a snort and keyed his radio, "What ya got, buddy?"

"_We are not alone. A small band of people are approaching from the south."_

Daniel watched as Jack visibly tensed. Instantly alert, his hand tightening around his P-90, Jack snapped his head back and forth, finding his bearings. Taking his cue and slipping his own hand down towards the Berretta, Daniel paused mid-action, the urge to arm himself giving way to playing devils advocate in the face of a first contact.

"Carter, what's your position?"

"_Coming up on your left, sir, fifty feet."_

Squinting against the glare, his snap on shades momentarily forgotten, Daniel spotted movement through a grove of dead gnarled trees, and with a quick tap on Jack's shoulder, he pointed towards the approaching visitors. "Err, over there!"

"Behind me, Daniel."

"Jack?"

Face schooled, a finger raised in the air, Jack put paid to Daniel's now silent protest. "You'll get to do your intergalactic traveler routine when I'm sure they're not planning on using us for target practice."

The tell-tale sound of boots on the dry ground behind him told Daniel the rest of his team had returned, and with a barely perceptible nod, Teal'c and Sam moved to flank him, their weapons primed and at the ready.

Gaze darting from the tip of Teal'c staff weapon to the small band of natives now clearing a rippling mirage, Daniel bit back a witty retort threatening to trip off his tongue. The words "We come in peace, shoot to kill" suddenly stuck in an annoying loop in his mind, but placing his hand back on his Berretta, his relentless training finally won. Watch and listen, time enough for questions and answers later. Jack was right. Friend or foe was the sixty four thousand dollar question.

Watching as Sam and Teal'c slid smoothly into position, Jack kept his tone low and direct. "Heads up, kids."

Walking through the rippling mirage, a small group of warriors strode into the clearing near the gate. Dark skinned, lean and well muscled, they were naked from the waist up, and oozed a predatory presence. Their skin painted in a vivid blue, wearing skirted waistbands, the warriors looked at the invaders with interest.

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

The tent city was vast, spilling chaotically from two stone-hewed temples. An oxy-moron of beauty and starkness, it was set against an arid wasteland, and with a pang of sadness and regret, Daniel conceded it reminded him of Nagada.

Shielding his eyes from the glaring suns, Daniel looked over the bustling vista and marveled at the view. Sitting upon a barren knoll, the pyramidal shaped temples seemed to ripple with life as the setting suns dipped behind them. Deep orange and purple colors from the walls bled onto the city below, washing it like a living canvas. Daniel sucked in a deep breath, and with the pang of Abydos's loss suddenly awakened in him, he marveled at the city's simple beauty.

Surrounded on all sides by their Aztec hosts, Daniel kept his emotions in check, not letting the familiarity of the setting draw him away from the uneasiness he'd felt ever since Luc and his entourage had intercepted them at the gate.

A growing discomfort gnawed at Daniel, and stealing a sideways glance, he checked to see if Jack had picked up on his uneasiness. Jack's face was grim, and Daniel figured the easy manipulation of his team bothered him. Subtly and with stealth, the Aztec warriors insinuated themselves between them, and glaring, Daniel knew it was a bold move.

Despite his extensive knowledge of Aztec history, these people were aliens, and he wondered if their culture was diverse enough not to panic. Looking at the warriors, resplendent with short bows and brightly tipped arrows, made Daniel's stomach churn.

~oOo~

The musty smell of spice permeated the air, and sniffing, Jack's eyes began to water. With a longing look at the mud hut's only door, he began to formulate a fresh air escape plan. Getting past his minder, though, could prove problematic.

Uneasiness settled in Jack's stomach like a mouthful of bad milk, and he couldn't shake the feeling that there was a lot more to their new friends than what Daniel had discovered. Which, admittedly, wasn't much. The walk into the shanty village had been hot and long, though the locals took it in their stride. Jack wasn't surprised in the least. His affinity with chilly Minnesota days was often at odds with Daniel's love of all things hot and sandy. Acclimatization was the key.

A kaleidoscope of brightly painted bodies, feathered heads all bobbing with supposed excitement, greeted them along the winding path through the village. Daniel was in his element. The earlier apprehension he'd felt had eased somewhat, and with language being no barrier – English appeared to be a universal constant - Jack looked on as his friend chatted amicably on a range of subjects from herbal medicines to religion. All of which bored Jack to distraction.

And there were plenty of distractions.

Bare-chested seemed to be the norm here. Male and female. Jack knew nothing of Earth's Aztec culture beyond what he read in magazines and what little information Daniel provided him. Of course, that depended on whether he actually remembered it or not. Choosing the 'dumbed down' version of most of Daniel's long winded and overly animated lectures, Jack had a tendency to only take on board information relevant to the mission.

With very little data available on PR6-991, Jack was confident his archaeologist had no idea that bare-chested-ness extended to the women of Yahtepec as well as the men. Comparative social customs aside, Jack found the whole situation mildly distracting and suddenly developed a curious interest in the roof thatching methods of the Aztecs. Perhaps, along with an eye-watering version of the modern-day room freshener, the Yahtepec people could add their roof technology to Daniel's small list of items-of-interest.

Jack pulled his cap down across his eyes, and peered beneath it, quiet and unobtrusive. He looked at Teal'c. Straight backed, hands clutched behind him, his face was unreadable. _Hmm_, Jack thought, _nothing different there_. Twisting his neck, still looking lazy and disinterested, Jack stared at his 2IC. Carter's face was red, and beads of sweat trailed down her cheeks. Hot and bothered, she still watched her surroundings, ever the good soldier.

The last of his team mates caused Jack the most consternation. Arms flying, Daniel was enamored with his latest audience and Jack wondered wryly if Daniel's mind was either his best friend or his worst enemy. Today, in this primitive hut, insects buzzing and the smell of fermenting fruit filling the air, O'Neill decided it was Daniel's best friend.

"Jack!" Speak of the devil. How did the kid do that? One moment he's sitting like the chief storyteller at a bonfire, and the next he's standing in front of him.

"Daniel?" Jack looked across at Luc and the other Yahtepec, all paint, feathers and smiles, then back at his friend. "Something you need to share with the rest of us?"

"This is just amazing! We've seen so many examples of displaced cultures deviating from their Earth equivalents that I was expecting the same here."

Patting the space next to him, Jack shuffled over to make room. "And you're not seeing that here?" he ventured with a smile.

"Not really, no, well, some traditions have died off over time, and obvious environmental issues aside-"

"Aht!" Eyebrows raised and finger in the air, Jack put paid to Daniel's building rant.

Daniel put on a look of resignation, and with a shrug and roll of his eyes, carried on regardless. "My point is, the modern Aztecs of today-"

"The Mexicans?" Jack smiled. He liked to think he knew his history.

Eyebrows raised, Daniel peered at Jack over the top of his glasses. "Can I finish?" He said, bumping Jack's shoulder as he slid down next to him. "The Aztec society of today has pretty much lost its cultural ties to the past. They maintain their language and some of their religious beliefs but that's about it."

Mouth open, Jack scrubbed his chin back and forth with one hand. "You know, this is all good stuff, but what does it mean for us? Cultural imperatives aside," he added mockingly.

Daniel blinked and flicked away a bead of sweat from his eye. "Ah, it's interesting?"

"Interesting? Right!" Jack smacked his thigh and stood up, cringing as his BDU pants stuck to his bottom. _Damn this blasted heat._ "Carter, Teal'c, pack it up, kids, we're heading home."

"We can't just leave!"

Jack shrugged on his pack, hating the added warmth against his already overheated skin. "Daniel, they've got nothing of value to trade and you've already admitted the culture is not that much different from the one we had on Earth."

"Sam." Daniel stood up. Grim faced and eyes pleading, he waved at his team mate. "The Yahtepec have this plant, it's the only thing they can grow under these conditions. According to Luc, it has incredible medicinal properties."

Mouth open, about to put an end to Daniel's plea, a flurry of movement caught Jack's attention and he zeroed in on Luc. Head bobbing in a lively discussion, the Aztec leader herded his men to the front of the hut, effectively blocking the team's only route of escape.

Eyes flashing his concern at the military half of his team, Jack clapped Daniel on the shoulder and steered him toward the exit. "Carter can get her samples and we'll bid these lovely people goodbye."

As if on cue, Luc and his followers turned and suddenly pressed all around them, their spirited and animated faces now flush with concern. Jack couldn't give a damn. Hot, tired, and smelling like a rancid mastadge, he had no compunction about pushing his way through the crowd to fresh air and the path back to the Stargate.

"Jack!" Daniel shrugged off Jack's grip and turned to face him, eyes icy cold and face grim with determination. "I told Luc we'd be staying for their evening meal. They have herbs and other medicines they're prepared to share, on top of those 'cultural imperatives' I'd like to learn more about."

A finger strumming the side of his P-90, Jack's temper, like the heat inside the inferno of a hut, was slowly creeping past boiling point. "Well, un-tell them, **Daniel**," he said with the barest thread of self control and drawing out Daniel's name deliberately. "There's nothing here we need to stay for, and should Carter's samples turn up anything worth further investigation, I'm sure the General will approve a return visit. Right now," Jack gave Daniel a firm shove towards the door, "I'm hot, feeling hemmed in, and in desperate need of a long shower and a beer, so make good with the chief and let us get the heck outta here."

A commotion at the end of the hut put paid to Jack's rant and he reflexively tightened the grip on his weapon. A cutting glance at Teal'c and Carter had his team closing ranks around Daniel, and he could sense their sharp minds already searching for another escape route.

Feathered heads bobbed in unison, and with an almost festive like cheer, the small crowd of Yahtepec men parted to let four young women through. Faces impassive, long black hair flowing over their full breasts, they each held a large platter above their heads. Heaped with some type of steaming food Jack had no hope of identifying, the women swung the platters down and settled them on a nearby table.

With a silent groan and sigh of resignation, Jack bit back his anger and flashed a 'we'll be discussing this later' look at his youngest team mate. The slow shrug of shoulders and grimaced half smile told him Daniel had received his message loud and clear.

Brightly colored earthenware jugs joined the platters on the table, and Jack stared at the cup thrust into his hand with some suspicion. The pungent clove scented wine tickled his nostrils and Jack flashed the server his best 'thank-you' smile, biting back a low groan as yet more villagers filled into the already cramped space.

The feast was a meager affair. Plates of thinly sliced red meat were dotted around the long serving table, their juices pooling and congealing quickly in the steaming heat of the hut.

Cutlery and napkins unheard of here, Jack picked up a portion, and with a feigned smile to appease the watching Luc, took a small bite. The meat was sweet but stringy, and as Jack was about to swallow, he caught sight of a rat scuttling across an overhead rafter and pushing its way through the straw roof. With a cough and roll of his eyes, he forced down the portion and wondered belatedly where they obtained their food sources.

Teal'c and Carter were seated off to his left and seemed to be just as cautious about the meal as he was. Sam appeared to have spotted the rats in the rafter, her gaze constantly flickering back and forth from her plate – largely untouched – to a point high up in the roof. Only Daniel appeared in his element, once again stuck in a lively conversation with Luc, he tucked into his meal like he was dining at an all-you-can-eat buffet, the company seemingly a bigger distraction than the ill tasting meal and twenty sets of rodent eyes spying on them from above.

The only thing Jack could agree on was the wine. Its heady scent was easily forgotten over the course of several refills, and though Jack was always cautious about drinking anything off world, whatever was in the smooth brew was very easy on the pallet. Obligatory toasts to friendships and possible trades over - though for god-knows-what Jack wasn't sure - and he could feel his mask of concentration starting to slip. Blinking slowly, and taking a long assessing look at Sam and Teal'c, he cursed silently.

They all looked drunk. No. Drugged.

Staring down at the cup and then across at Luc, he caught the other man's attention just as Daniel was slumping sideways into his firm embrace. The welcoming smile was gone, replaced with a lip curling grin. Hands roughly pulling at his shoulders and forcing him from his seat and onto the ground, Jack tried to fight back but failed. Limbs numb and consciousness fading, the last thing he saw was Daniel being hefted onto the shoulders of a warrior and taken from the hut.

~oOo~

Malinche eyed the latest supplicant with a look of satisfaction and anticipation. With the ever increasing long gaps between sacrificial rites, she hoped fervently Tlaloc would be pleased with this offering. Few people visited the Yahtepec. Their isolation and poor resources, hardly worthy of even the most desperate of passing traders, left them a needy people at the mercy of malevolent gods. Gnawing hunger and desperation burned in their bellies, so whenever travelers arrived through Tlaloc's door, there was always cautious celebration.

Cursed by her inability to bear children, Malinche considered her work at the temple of the utmost importance; after all, there was more than one way to serve her god. As was her stature amongst the temple workers, she wore the responsibility of caring for new supplicants like a badge of honor, and took pride in her work.

Her latest charge was a handsome man, but as a child, he would be truly beautiful. Eyes the color of the sky and hair glinted with gold, Malinche was sure Tlaloc would look positively upon this sacrifice, forgetting he was not of the Yahtepec. Holding the vial of mocuepa tightly in her hand, she stood over him, pulling him forward by his clothing.

Groaning his displeasure at being disturbed, the man tried to push her away. "Wha's 'h'ppen'ng?"

Malinche would have none of it. The sleeping drug still held the man fast in its grip, and taking advantage of his confusion, she pulled him forward by his hair. Twisting under her hold, his head thrashing back and forth, he gagged as she forced the bitter liquid between his teeth. Grunting, she shoved him back against the wall, cursing as he spat the mocuepa back into her face, stinging her eyes.

"You!" Gripping his chin in her hand, she forced his mouth open and poured down the rest of the contents of the vial, clamping a hand over his mouth, forcing him to swallow. Within moments his struggles ceased, and his panic filled eyes closed under the numbing influences of the mocuepa.

Malinche wiped the liquid from her face, and stood back watching as the drug worked its magic. After all these years she was still in awe of its potential as the man's pain filled body contorted and writhed, growing ever smaller with each passing second.

~oOo~

Nausea wasn't a feeling Teal'c was especially familiar with. Decades of carrying a symbiote had protected him from a variety of maladies any normal humanoid would have succumbed to. His later reliance on the drug Tretonin, whilst not as effective, was preferable over the death that awaited any Jaffa without a symbiote.

It was the low cadence of unfamiliar voices that stirred Teal'c from his slumber, and he wondered idly why he was sleeping in the company of others. Prying his eyes open briefly, he could make out hazy figures moving across his line of sight. Not immediately recognizing his surroundings, he snapped them shut before anyone noticed he was awake.

They'd been drugged. Memories of the feast filtered somewhat slowly into his sluggish brain, and stilling his now racing breath, he tried to maintain the illusion of being asleep. The voices were louder now. Whoever it was wasn't bothering to hide the topic of their conversation, and now alert to their predicament, Teal'c keenly listened in.

"I am unsure as to why the mocuepa failed."

Luc! Teal'c recognized the voice of the Yahtepec leader. A heightened sense of preservation, and the need to know the location of the rest of his team, kept Teal'c from lashing out at his captors. Face schooled, and body appearing lax, Teal'c knew information would be more useful than brute force.

"We can't worry about that now, Luc. We must dispose of these three before they awaken." Three? A brief pause in the conversation, and Teal'c could hear the sound of feet scuffing across the dirt floor near his head. "We cannot risk them escaping through Tlaloc's door and alerting the gods to our failure."

"There must be something different with them, a reason why the mocuepa didn't work."

Teal'c could hear Luc pacing back and forth across the room, his agitation seeming to increase with the speed of his footfalls. "This one," Luc jabbed at Teal'c's right shoulder with his foot, "bears the mark of some distant evil god."

"Perhaps he would be a worthy sacrifice to Tlaloc," the other man suggested, a tinge of anticipation creeping into his voice.

With a grim sense of foreboding Teal'c understood the man's words. Jaffa knew all about sacrificing to one's god, and he listened to the misguided words of yet another fanatic with sadness. Forcing a calmness he didn't feel, he knew this wasn't the time for such thoughts; he would be needed to rescue his friends.

"Another sign of our continued faith and following of his ways?" the man continued on, and Teal'c could imagine the look of want spreading across the man's face.

Luc growled deeply. "Perhaps you would be a more worthy sacrifice, Zolin."

Hearing the brittle laugh returned, Teal'c listened as the voice became softer. "No," Luc laughed lightly, seeming to finding the other man's reaction amusing, "have Tochtili take them to the quarry cliffs where they can meet their fate. The failure of the mocuepa is a sure sign from Tlaloc he would not favor their sacrifice."

Silence an affirmation of compliance, Teal'c listened till he heard both men leave the hut and the rickety door close. Opening his eyes he let his gaze wander around the small, dimly lit space. Night had obviously closed in and a small candle provided the only light in the room.

O'Neill and Major Carter were both stretched out on the floor several feet away, and the twisted position of their limbs and lack of any bedding left Teal'c in no doubt the Yahtepec held their prisoners in little regard.

Inching forward as quietly as possible, Teal'c reached out towards the pulse point on O'Neill's neck. Steady but slow. Reaching across his team leader's body, he gently grabbed Sam's bicep and pulled her closer. The reaction he got was faster than he could have anticipated. A fist struck out and hit him squarely on the jaw, and he recoiled under the unexpected attack.

"Major Carter!" he whispered, raising his hands to fend off any further attack.

Eyes wide, face pale, Sam Carter drew in a ragged breath and blinked furiously. "Teal'c?"

"We must remain quiet," he cautioned, cocking his head in the direction of the closed door. "The Yahtepec leader may still be close-by."

Sitting up slowly, Sam knuckled her eyes and ran a shaky hand through her hair. Looking back and forth around the room, she flashed Teal'c an inquiring look. "Daniel?"

"He is not with us."

"Damn," she muttered. "We need to get out of here before they return. I'm not too sure the trip to the quarry cliffs is one we really want to take, and finding Daniel is a priority."

"You heard?"

"Some of it. Only woke up a few minutes ago. I'm guessing they drugged us with something and whatever it was wore off quicker than they expected."

"We must use that to our advantage."

Sam reached out and shook the colonel's shoulder. "Sir?" With no reaction she checked his pulse again and winced. "He's not going to wake up any time soon. Will you be okay to carry him?"

Teal'c nodded and rose to his feet. Suddenly dizzy and biting back nausea, he took a moment to steady himself.

"Teal'c, you okay?" Sam asked only moments before her own face took on a decidedly green hue as she made to stand. "Oh boy!"

Teal'c watched quietly as Sam gathered herself and began tapping the hut's back walls lightly, recognizing this to be their only means of escape as the most obvious routes would be guarded. Waiting until she'd removed the last of the panels, he hoisted the colonel across his shoulders in a fireman's hold.

Night blanketed the Aztec village. Smoke curled from the cooking fires of several nearby huts, and the mutterings of muted conversations drifted on the calm night air. The buildings seemed sparsely situated and Teal'c wondered what part of the vast city they'd been taken too. With no landmarks to guide them, and only the light from a single moon lighting the landscape, Teal'c could only guess they were on the outskirts of the village.

Thankful he wasn't left having to make his escape carrying both his team mates, he looked on as Major Carter, armed with nothing but a paling from the hut wall, scouted the vicinity for guards.

Teal'c kept his frame as flat as possible against the rickety hut, the colonel's body resting securely across his shoulders. With a quick nod, Sam darted into the darkness only to return minutes later.

"I counted one guard," she huffed, sucking in a lung full of air.

Eyes dark, Teal'c frowned, "Clearly they weren't expecting us to escape."

Sam nodded. "Whatever the reason, I don't see that we have much time." Pointing to the rear of the hut, she motioned him forward. "It looks like we're on the outskirts of the village," she whispered, her gaze sharp and focused as she swept the area for trouble. "I spotted the indentation of a dry river bed. The rocks should cover our tracks."

"What of Daniel Jackson?"

Sam reached across and tapped lightly on the colonel's cheek. "One problem at a time, Teal'c. We need somewhere safe to hide and work out where we go from here. We're out-manned and unarmed. Leaving is our only option."

A cry of laughter and the rustling of heavy fabric caught them off guard. Pushing Teal'c back against the wall of the hut, she peered out around its corner and abruptly pulled her head back in. Clearly there was movement in the village.

"Leaving now is a better one."

To be continued…


	3. Chapter 3

Staring into the starless night sky, the old woman sighed softly, her bones aching from sitting on her haunches for too long. As her thoughts wandered back in time, she smiled; remembering the sounds birds made as they bickered and fought in the trees, but that had been centuries ago and now her planet was dying. "Not any more," she mused sadly remembering their sharp keening shrill as they aimed their feathered bodies downwards in the hopes of securing a live meal.

Dragging herself to her feet, arthritis paining her, Teiuc thought the birds hunted to extinction were better off than she was. She supposed that maybe they existed somewhere on this unforgiving rock, but if they had any good sense, they would stay well away from the Yahtepec. Still, she couldn't complain, unlike the now extinct birds, she had only suffered the indignity of banishment by her people.

In a final act of contrition, she'd turned her back on her gods and the only way of life she'd ever known. Fearing she'd be sacrificed for her crimes, she was stunned when the warriors of her village merely looked on as she fled with her meager possessions.

Setting up a hovel outside the city border, she lived her life in quiet solitude with no one to bother her, but a whole life time of memories to keep her company. The only problem was… Teiuc's memories were the stuff of nightmares.

The distant crunch of feet on rocks pulled Teiuc from her melancholy and she tilted her head in the direction of the sound. "No!" she hissed, snuffing out her shelter's only candle and pulled the door covering closed. "Not after all this time." She had no visitors, no one cared if she lived or died. In exile, it was as though Teiuc never existed. "Why now?"

Pushing the door covering back a fraction, she let her eyes adjust once again to the darkness, and with a stifled gasp, she caught sight of movement beyond the edge of her garden. The intruders were close, and their odd scent confused and alarmed her more.

"What is this?"

Ancient, Teiuc was a survivor, and grabbing the hardwood branch she kept by her door, she waited and listened, heart pounding with fear.

Two figures stumbled through the darkness and with a hiss and curse, the smaller of the two tripped and fell to the ground face first.

"Major-"

_Major? _

"I'm fine, Teal'c, just a few loose stones."

"No!" Teiuc whispered, stunned at what played out before her. No woman was allowed beyond the village limits after darks. The gods would not allow it.

With a start, Teiuc shuddered as a terrible and familiar sound carried across the night air. She knew something was afoot, but what? A sacrifice? Call to war?

The strangers appeared to hear the cry as well, their hushed whispers falling silent as they staggered to clear the dry riverbed. Burdened or injured, she couldn't tell, but the taller of the two was moving much slower, his gait awkward and unsteady. In the dead of night Teiuc couldn't tell which.

Furtive looks over their shoulders told Teiuc the intruders hadn't come for her. They were being herded just as surely as she had been centuries earlier, and she was in no doubt as to why.

Familiar voices drifted up the riverbed, growing louder with every passing moment. Doubt giving way to clarity, and pushing her fears aside, Teiuc threw open her door and ran out into the night.

"Over here!" She beckoned, scuttling across the hard ground and motioning them over. "I can help you."

Stopping dead in her stride, the female turned to look at her, her body tense and eyes wide. Teiuc knew instantly she was not of the Yahtepec. Hair as yellow as the sun framed the stranger's face like a halo, and for a brief moment, Teiuc wondered if she was a goddess. Pushing the thought aside - after all, who would be chasing their goddess - she swallowed her fear.

"Please," she begged, keeping her voice at a hissed whisper, "move faster, they will be upon you soon." With a quick thanks to the gods she no longer believed in, Teiuc studied the huge man with skin of ebony. Fear caused her eyes to widen; this one bore the mark of the evil gods.

"Who are you?" she asked, almost instantly regretting what his answer might be.

Shifting the weight of his unconscious companion on his shoulders, the man nodded curtly, ignoring both her question and her wide-eyed stare, and moved past her. Teiuc knew it was too late to withdraw her offer of help. What was done could not be undone, and she of all people knew this to be true.

~oOo~

Sam crouched down to her knees, and moving silently to the door, peered through the crack. Blinking, her eyes adjusting to the night, she tracked the shadowy figures moving beyond the edge of Teiuc's meager garden. The warrior's dark skin blended perfectly into the night, and Sam wondered if they'd substituted one problem for another.

The old woman's rheumy eyes were wide with fear, and Sam sighed softly, aware she may not be quite so keen to help them now that warriors crawled all around her hut. Couldn't blame her, she needed to be sure they weren't betrayed. Narrowing her eyes briefly, Sam wondered why the woman appeared fixated on Teal'c. "Great," she muttered under her breath, "they know the Goa'uld. This just keeps getting better and better."

A shadowy movement dragged her back to the warriors and again, Carter regretted taking refuge. Cutting the first break of the night, Sam blew a relieved sigh as the sounds of the warriors drifted away, and for the moment they were safe. She hoped.

Smiling at the brave old woman, Sam felt a stab of sympathy for her gnarled old body. She was very old, and the bravery she'd shown three strangers was admirable. "Thank you," Sam whispered. "Thank you very much."

Her stare still firmly fixed on Teal'c, the old woman appeared to ignore Sam completely.

"He won't hurt you."

Shaking her head slowly, and sucking in a deep breath, the woman slid her gaze across to Sam, and muttered, "This one is a servant of evil."

_So it __**is**__ the Goa'uld she's afraid of_. "No." Sam shifted over next to Teal'c and rested a hand on the colonel's chest. _Steady and deep, just keep it that way, sir._ "Teal'c used to serve the Goa'uld but he is allied with us now."

"Goa'uld?" The woman stumbled over the word like it was unfamiliar to her.

"Ah, the evil?"

Giving Teal'c one last quizzical look, the old woman nodded, and her lips turned up in a small smile. "I am Teiuc."

"Teiuc. I'm Sam, this," she pointed towards Teal'c, "is Teal'c, and the sleepy one is Colonel O'Neill."

Looking down at Jack, Teiuc frowned and patted his cheek with her hand. "He has been touched by the mocuepa," she said suspiciously, turning to light up a small candle.

_The what?_ Sam frowned. "Excuse me?"

"You have come from the village?"

"Yes."

The flame flickered before settling on its wick, providing just enough light to fill the space with a shimmering yellow hue. "Then you have all been touched by the mocuepa," Teiuc announced as she placed the candle on the floor between them. "None who visit the Yahtepec leave without being touched by the mocuepa."

"Mocuepa?" Sam rolled the word off her tongue; it seemed familiar somehow.

"I believe that was the word Luc gave to the drug he tainted our wine with, Major Carter," Teal'c offered in answer to her unspoken question.

"Yes!" Teiuc nodded stiffly, with suspicion making her expression hard and her voice brittle. "Mocuepa! Those the mocuepa does not work on are put to death. It is not something that occurs very often." Eying Sam and Teal'c up and down, she cocked her head to the side in a surmising gesture. "There must be something about you three that stopped the mocuepa from working."

"Teiuc, there is another of us. A friend. When we woke up, he was gone."

Teiuc shook her head at Sam, eyes flashing briefly with sadness. "He is lost to you. The mocuepa changes people quickly and its effects are equally as brief. Soon he will be taken to meet the Gods."

"The Gods?" Experience taught Sam that anything through the Stargate that concerned 'Gods' was never a good thing. "I need you to work with us here, Teiuc, please, it's very important we understand what you're saying. What is mocuepa, and what does it do to people?"

Teiuc sighed and rubbed her hands together. Looking across at Sam and Teal'c then down at the still sleeping colonel, she sat back on her low stool, chewing on her bottom lip, eyes intense. "Although I am no longer part of the Yahtepec, there are some traditions I still uphold. I can tell you what I know if you are prepared to listen."

Sam looked down at Jack. Eyes darting under their hoods, she could tell the drug was starting to wear off. _Any time you'd like to wake up would be fine with me, sir._ "If it will help us get Daniel back, then yes, we'll listen."

"I guarantee nothing, only that it will help you to understand why you cannot help your friend."

~oOo~

With a shiver, Daniel wondered briefly why he was cold. Egyptian nights were quite cool, he knew that, but why was this so cold? Confused, he patted around for his bedclothes, but finding none, he curled in tighter and shivered again.

On the cusp of sleep, and needing a distraction from the crisp night air, Daniel let his mind wander to the delights the breaking dawn would hold for him. He loved Saqqara, loved looking at the distant and massive sand dunes that swept down from the horizon and crashed into the temple complex like ocean waves. Not that Daniel had been to the ocean, but he'd seen pictures in books.

On calm days when the wind barely ruffled his long hair, he would sit in the large washing pail and pretend he was the captain of a mighty vessel pounding the waves and shouting "ahoy" at passing goat herders. Tonight though, Saqqara was cold, and getting colder by the moment. Daniel wrapped one arm around his knees and reached out for his blanket with the other. Hand slapping a hard surface, he jerked instantly awake and sat up.

The world had changed. Panic washed over him as he surveyed his new environment, and with a choked whimper, he scuttled into the nearest corner. The room he occupied was poorly lit. Fading threads of daylight filtered in from small window just below ceiling height giving off enough light for Daniel to tell he wasn't in his home.

"Mommy?"

Time spent wandering through temple complexes and funeral chambers at the dig site in Saqqara told Daniel the room he was in was made from stone. Roughly hewn, it bit into his bottom and back, no position he tried was comfortable as the cold numbed him even more.

"Daddy?"

Rocking gently back and forth, he could feel the scratch of course fabric on his cold skin, and fingering the material, he swept his hands down his front until he reached the hemline. Whatever he was wearing was long, and pulling his knees up to his chest, he dragged the garment over his legs and feet to lock in some warmth.

"Garai?" Daddy had warned him about slavers - men that wandered the barren lands of Egypt seeking out women and children to sell to others. _If you see anyone you don't recognize, come to us or Garai. You understand me, Danny?_ Danny understood well enough, and Garai, his language teacher and family friend, was never far away.

Daniel always believed it was a story designed to keep him from exploring past the confines of the dig site and their camping grounds. Now he wasn't so sure. Did they take Mommy as well? Were they even aware he was missing? Thoughts reeled through his scared and tired mind, and as fast as that fear was escalating… so were his sobs.

Small hiccups soon became choked and strained. His laments echoed off the cold walls of his prison and back to his ears, making him cry even harder.

A small ball of misery, Daniel didn't hear the low moan of wood being dragged across the stone floor as the door was opened and a slightly built woman entered.

"Be quiet!" she yelled, teeth bared and nostrils flaring. "You will learn silence or I will teach it to you."

Feeling like he'd been slapped across the face, Daniel dragged in a ragged breath and curled tightly into the corner. He gazed up at the woman through wet lashes and shuddered at her snarled expression. Long black hair peppered with streaks of grey swept over her bare chest and down to a short green skirt tied loosely around her waist. Skin the color of honey and eyes as dark as night, she was definitely not Egyptian.

Choking back a threatened sob, Daniel clutched at his shirt and tucked his head down to his chest, avoiding her eyes. "I-I want ma-my mommy."

"You have no mother. You belong to Tlaloc and Chal now, and you will do their bidding."

The woman spoke with such force that her words flew at Daniel in a hail of saliva, coating his face and arms. Recoiling in horror, unable to make sense of what was happening, Daniel turned towards the hard wall and tried to block out her image. A rough hand grabbed at his bony shoulder and yanked him around as a cup was shoved into his chest.

"Drink."

Daniel looked at the cup then up at the woman and shook his head. "No."

Eyes flashing and mouth set in a sneer, the woman snatched a handful of Daniel's hair forcing his head back and his mouth to drop open. The cup was pressed roughly against his lips, liquid forced down his throat.

Coughing and spitting, lungs burning as the liquid went down the wrong way; Daniel doubled over in agony. "Mommy!"

"I told you she's gone. You are worthless. Your life is no longer your own."

Daniel felt a heavy numbness wash over him. Tired and cold, he struggled to sit up but his body felt heavy and kept pulling him down. Giving up, he turned onto his side and dragged his knees up to his chest, and with no energy left to draw on he ignored the cold and slipped into a fitful slumber.

~oOo~

"Tlaloc and Chalchihuitlicue – the Sun and the Moon. The Yahtepec people have worshiped them since life began for us. The twin gods of fertility, they created us from their image. Tlaloc was also known as the god of rain, and it was long known that when the clouds were full and the rivers swollen, Tlaloc was happy and pleased. His wife, Chalchihuitlicue was the goddess of the waters and protector of children. Together they ruled over this world, and for many millennia, the Yahtepec lived in harmony with their gods.

Our verbal history tells of a time when no sacrifice – beyond food for their tables and wares for their households - was required by the Gods to appease them."

Sam raised her hand. "Wait!" she asked looking puzzled. "Food and wares? Your ancestors provided them with goods but did they ever actually see them?"

"The Gods? Of course they did." Teiuc laughed lightly, her smile accentuated by the wrinkles in her leathery skin. "Tlaloc and his bride resided in separate temples, the seats of their worship. Tlaloc was a solitary figure, choosing to communicate only through the daily offering service. Chalchihuitlicue was his opposite. Said to be as beautiful as she was intelligent, she wandered through the city blessing the children and visiting the fields during sowing season."

Sam looked across at Teal'c, a worried frown on her face. "Do you think?"

"Indeed. It is possible they were Goa'uld, although I do not recognize their names beyond what Daniel Jackson told us."

Teiuc coughed lightly, clearly annoyed at the interruption. "May I continue?"

"Yes," Sam urged, wincing, "sorry, please do."

"Tlaloc and Chalchihuitlicue never left Yahtepec," Teiuc continued, closing her eyes as she spoke. "There was never any need to. The quarry provided minerals that Tlaloc had sent through his door, though my ancestors were never sure for what purpose. Life was good until Tlaloc and Chal left." Teiuc's face twisted into a scowl as though she was recalling something unpleasant. "The quarry had ceased giving up its bounty and very soon Tlaloc received visitors through his door. Our oral history became weak at this point and some believe that Tlaloc and Chal left through the door to attend to other duties, never to return. Others still, are of the opinion the visitors were vengeful gods who, angered by Tlaloc's failure to provide the minerals, had them overthrown. Most though, felt that Tlaloc and Chal fought with each other and locked themselves away for eternity in their temples."

"Which do you believe is most accurate?" Teal'c asked.

Teiuc appeared to study Teal'c for several moments as if weighing up her answer against what she should really tell. A shrug of her shoulders and flicking back of her long greying hair gave away her answer. "In truth, I have about as much idea where they went as those amongst the Yahtepec that truly believe they know. What I can tell you though is that these lands used to be rich and fertile. The riverbed, a scant throw away from here, was so full and wide, it couldn't be swum. Animal and bird life was plentiful; crops were abundant. Whatever became of Tlaloc and Chal, my ancestors believed was their fault, and being the god and goddess of water and fertility, there was only one way they knew of to win back their love."

Sam sucked in a breath and tried not to meet Teiuc's piercing stare. No slouch with the history books, she knew the ancient Aztecs of Earth were a bloodthirsty race, believing that to give life was to create life.

"You're talking of human sacrifice, aren't you?" Sam whispered, her eyes dark and downcast.

"I am, but not just any sacrifice. Tlaloc, as much as he was a recluse, was a lover of children, and a father himself. My ancestors, in their soul tortured ways, believed that only child sacrifices would appease Tlaloc and Chal, and in return, they would bless them with bountiful crops. Parents, deluded in their belief their child would become beloved of the gods, clamored to sacrifice their children, but as the summers grew longer and harsher, and crops continued to fail, the sacrifices became more frequent and bloody.

Occasionally, every few years, the rains would come but this only fed their fevered belief that the more they gave of themselves, the more Tlaloc and Chal listened. Unfortunately the opposite was true as well."

Sam could feel the walls of the hut pressing down on her. Schooling her face, she tried not to let the old lady see her barely suppressed emotions. Off to her right she could tell Teal'c was having the same problems. Fists clenched and jaw set, the anger in his eyes was evident.

"How does this help us rescue Daniel?"

"For you to have listened to this much, you must hear the rest before you can truly understand."

"Daniel?"

"Sir!" Sam scrambled over to the colonel's side and slid her arm behind his neck as he tried to sit up. "I think you should probably lie still."

"Where are we?" Blinking furiously, eyes glazed and unfocused, Jack's breath quickened, and with a low groan, he turned onto his side. "I'm gonna puke."

Teiuc was faster than Sam gave her credit for. In one motion she slipped from her stool and thrust a wooden bowl under Jack's mouth, barely seconds before his last meal made a less than dignified appearance.

With a cough and a spit, Jack rolled onto his back and stared up at Teiuc. "Carter, you've changed."

Rolling her eyes, Sam waved to get his attention. "Over here, sir."

To be continued…


	4. Chapter 4

If waking up with the hangover from Hades wasn't enough, then finding out Daniel was missing topped it all off. Back to the wall, Jack sat with his head between his legs, vainly trying to hold in what stomach contents he had left. Daring to raise his head, he locked eyes with the old woman. Emaciated, bones poking through her paper thin skin, the ancient crone rolled her tired shoulders, her tiny sagging breasts jiggling with her every move.

Slamming his eyes shut, Jack forced them open again, only to see the withered old woman in full glory once more. "I can **not** have been this bad," he muttered, deciding to close his eyes once more.

"Carter?"

"Sir?"

"Tell me again why I feel like crap?

"It's the mocuepa. Teuic says you should be fine in a few hours."

"Easy for her to say," Jack mumbled between breaths as his stomach clenched and churned, forcing bile up his throat.

"What was that, sir?"

"Nothing." He let his head slump down on his knees. "Everything's just peachy."

"Teal'c and I managed to get you out of the village before Luc had us executed. We're not exactly sure what they've done with Daniel yet. Teiuc offered us shelter from the Yahtepec warriors and has been filling us in on some of her people's history."

"And we've got time for a history lesson with Daniel missing?"

Sam smiled ruefully and let out a small sigh. "According to Teiuc, before we can understand what's happened to Daniel, we need to get acquainted with her people. Their lives are guided by tradition and oral history."

Jack rubbed a hand across his tight stomach and bit down hard on his lip. "I don't suppose she has an abridged version?"

"I do not believe so, O'Neill," Teal'c offered with a deep growl that normally signaled his own growing frustration.

"She and Daniel would make a wonderful couple."

"Your friend will be coupling with no one from this time forth." Teiuc's neutral tone sliced into the conversation like a knife. Quiet and unassuming, she wielded silence in her presence and commanded attention like a General at a mission briefing. "I will continue and you will all pay attention. The Yahtepec warriors will not return here until after the next offering, so you would be wise to listen to the story. At least you can tell your leaders for what reason your friend died."

"Dead?" Panic suddenly took hold and Jack pushed off the ground, holding onto the flimsy wall for support. "You said nothing about death." He cast a sideways glance at Carter and Teal'c and grumbled, "What is she talking about?"

Teiuc interrupted before either of his team mates could. "As I have already told them, your friend will soon go to meet Tlaloc and his goddess, Chal. There is nothing you can do for him. He is very much lost to you in body and in mind."

"I know I've said this once today already, and I'm gonna say it again. Kids, pack up your gear, we're leaving."

"Sir?"

"Carter, I don't-"

"O'Neill, we have neither the resources nor the backup to rescue Daniel Jackson at this moment. I believe the Yahtepec will most likely have the Stargate guarded, knowing this is our only avenue of escape." Teal'c paused and rested a hand on Jack's shoulder, encouraging him to sit. "For us to have any hope of assisting Daniel Jackson, we would be wise to listen to Teiuc's story."

Looking around the small hut, Jack could see neither their weapons nor their packs and assumed they were taken after his team was drugged. Choiceless and still suffering from the effects of the mocuepa, Jack tucked his legs up again and groaned. "Go on," he said, head down and hand waving in the air, "I'll be here taking notes."

~oOo~

"As I explained earlier, human sacrifices were not originally a part of religious life for the Yahtepec. Our ancestors lived a comfortable life, eking a living from crop sales to distant villages, and occasionally through Tlaloc's door."

"Whoa, back it up there." Jack cast a bleary stare at Teiuc. "Daniel said that name, something about a statue?"

"Tlaloc is the primary god of the Yahtepec. He ruled these lands with his wife, Chalchiuhtlicue."

"Yep, and her as well."

"Tlaloc and Chal's disappearance many centuries ago preceded a decline in the Yahtepec way of life. Years of blistering summers and mild winters with little rainfall led to poor crops and a starving population. The Yahtepec High Priest was convinced the people had defied the gods and this was their retribution. The daily sacrifices of crops and other goods were left untouched, and in desperation, the priest turned to the one thing our gods treasured most. Children.

The thought was hideous at first. History tells of women who ran into the distant mountains before giving birth to escape the sacrifice ritual. Some died alone under the harsh sun, taking with them their unborn child. Others were hunted down by the village warrior caste and returned only to have their child ripped from them as penance for their defiance. They were cruel times, but the High Priest's words were law, and that law had been decreed by the gods.

Before the onset of each season, twenty children were offered to Tlaloc and Chal and sacrificed in a manner that was hoped would appease both gods – death by drowning. On the first night of the first full moon, the village would gather at the shores of the Animas to watch the High Priest drown each child one by one. The ritual was a solemn affair, for to have it any other way, would be to offend Chal, the nurturer of children. It was only after two seasons that the Yahtepec saw their first decent rainfall and the crops flourished.

The High Priest in all his righteousness decreed that the sacrifice pleased Tlaloc, and only through their continued offering could they receive their blessing. With full bellies and plentiful supplies to last through the winter months, my ancestors began to see the wisdom in the sacrifices. So they continued, and each season another twenty children met their fate in Animas's cool still waters.

Years flew by, rains fell, crops flourished, and the population grew fat and healthy on the back of its lost children. Many preferred the loss of a newborn baby over an older child, but when the seasons began to change again, children were selected at random to make it fair on those who had already given a sacrifice.

Those times didn't last long, and barely a century after the sacrifices were accepted by the gods, it appears my people defied them once again. The climate changed again, this time worse than the last. Rainfall was non-existent, and our deep wells were feeling the strain of keeping crops watered.

This time the High Priest was convinced it was not Chal who was angry with them but the mighty god Tlaloc, bringer of floods and droughts. The Yahtepec were most fearful of Tlaloc, for he above all was thought to control the seasons, and in turn the very lives of the Yahtepec people. With the rivers dry from the drought, and no sign of rain, drowning was not an option so they turned to Tlaloc's temple and its high walls.

Safe in the knowledge they were respecting Tlaloc on his own ground with an offering of children, the High Priest was dismayed when the crops continued to fail and the seasons bled into one never-ending summer.

There was one turn of good fortune amongst the bad.

Where everything, save some spice plants, had died, the Hetcul plant survived and appeared to flourish. A sturdy plant, it required little moisture and would grow tall and healthy in the most arid of soils. Fortunately for the Yahtepec, both the fruit and flesh from the stem of the plant were edible, and the people were mindful of counting their blessings.

With their food supplies and crops now gone, Hetcul was the only thing keeping the Yahtepec people alive.

This did not stop the sacrifices though.

The rains failed to arrive for yet another year and the deep wells were almost dry. Angered by Tlaloc's apparent disregard for his people, the ritual sacrifices became violent, and the High Priest decreed nothing but the continued giving of the young would appease the god.

The sacrificial process grew over the decades but the population did not. The number of births fell but the people seemed to be living longer. The High Priest was vehement Tlaloc was angry and this was his retribution, and that the only way to please him was to offer more of our children.

Many felt Chal was the reason so few children were being born. That in their haste to please Tlaloc, they had abandoned Chal, and now both gods were raining down their displeasure upon the Yahtepec. People started to question the High Priest's reasoning at their own peril, but they were helpless to argue against the servant of their god. To offer less to Tlaloc would anger him further, and yet to offer more children in his name would bring down Chal's wrath. A solution was needed, but none was forthcoming.

This way of life continued on for many more centuries. Those that survived were living longer than ever before and yet the number of children born dwindled to a bare handful a year. In the end the High Priest had no choice but to lower the number of sacrifices for the sake of the Yahtepec as a people."

Teiuc cast her gaze low and lifted trembling hands to her face. "The last child born to the Yahtepec died a little over two hundred years ago," she muttered from behind her hands, before lifting her head again. "He was a beautiful child, and the holder of my heart. I was so sure he'd be saved in favor of an adult offering, but my husband deceived me and stole him away in the night."

"Two hundred years ago? But that would make you…." Sam's head snapped up at the revelation. "He was yours?" she said, undisguised disgust in her voice. "How could… he was his father. I don't understand-"

Teiuc dropped her gaze to the floor and shifted uncomfortably. "You don't understand, which is why I'm here to tell you. Matlal was more than Itzli's father and my husband. He was also the High Priest of Tlaloc. In his eyes everyone existed to serve their god… and none was above exemption."

Jack looked up from his spot on the ground and fixed Teiuc with a piercing stare. Eyes dark and jaw set, he knowingly set himself down the path of a question he didn't want the answer to. "The High Priest carries out the sacrifices, right?"

"He does," Teiuc answered sharply.

"And that would involve what?"

Teiuc swallowed hard. "The child is led to the altar, placed roughly upon its surface and held down by four attendants. The High Priest then cuts open the child's chest with a sacrificial dagger, pulls out his still beating heart and offers it to Tlaloc as a gift." She uttered the ritual with such calmness and detachment that Jack could feel his blood run cold.

"Oh, god," Sam clamped a hand to her mouth, eyes wide. "He sacrificed his own son?"

Teiuc nodded and reached up to brush away an errant tear, flicking it to the ground like an annoyance to be rid off. "I have borne three children to this world and all three have met their deaths at the hand of their father in the name of a faceless and malevolent god. To my eternal shame I was a witness at all of them, even encouraging the first two. To offer a child for sacrifice was to see that child become beloved of the god, but our gods had deserted us, and the ritual was for nothing," she whispered, her lined face crumpling with long held pain.

"And it only took the death of two children for you to wake up to this?"

"Don't mock our ways, Colonel," Teiuc shot at Jack, her voice flushed with frustration and anger. "You know nothing of our culture save what I tell you, and that is but a small portion."

Jack shook his head and stabbed a finger at her face. "Lady, what you've told us has squat to do with Daniel and everything to do with your poor choice in religion."

"It is no longer my religion, if it was I would still be living amongst the villagers, not out here as an outcast." Teiuc sucked in a ragged breath and appeared to mutter inaudibly under her breath. After a few moments she cocked her head to the side as though scrutinizing Jack. "The mocuepa is the key to the Yahtepec's continued survival, or so they believe."

"Again with the moco stuff," Jack sighed and palmed his eyes in weary frustration. "We get that it's some type of drug, but you've been mighty vague on the details unless there was something I missed while I was…" Jack pointed to the ground.

"Asleep, sir?"

"I was going for unconscious, Carter. Look, I appreciate you giving us shelter, and I respect your people have led a difficult life but thus far you've told us squat. Now my team mate is out there and we need to find him. If you've got nothing useful to offer up then we'll be on our way."

Teiuc looked sceptical. "Where is it you intend to go, Colonel?"

Jack waved a hand towards the door. "Back to the village. Where else?"

"You will not survive the return trip. The Yahtepec warriors will be hunting you. They cannot risk anyone returning through the door to tell of what happens here."

"See," Jack stabbed a finger in Teiuc's direction and frowned, "this is exactly what I mean. Squat, diddly, you're talking in riddles."

Teiuc rose up from her low stool and crossed the room to a small wooden chest propped up against the far wall. Adorned with pictographs and covered in the remnants of faded paint, the chest's hinges whined and protested as she lifted its lid and foraged through its unseen contents. After only a few moments, Teiuc turned back to SG-1, a small vial clutched tightly to her chest.

Sitting back down, she held the vial up, letting the light from the candle bounce of the glass, reflecting the dark amber liquid it held. "This," she whispered, her voice thick with fear, "is mocuepa. I took this with me after I killed my husband, hoping it was the last of the cursed drug, but I was wrong. There was a greater supply held in store at Tlaloc's temple that I was unaware of at the time."

Jack swallowed, "You killed him?"

"He left me no choice." Teiuc held the vial out to Sam who took it and held it up towards the light, appearing to study it further.

"After Itzli's sacrifice, my shame was complete. As a parent taking pride of place at my child's sacrifice, I showed no courage, and no love of Tlaloc and Chal as Matlal took his life in their name. Altar guards dragged me back to my home and stood watch outside while I awaited my husband's return from his ritual duties. My punishment would be exact and in accordance with Yahtepec law. At worst I would be sacrificed at the next offering in a ritual of dishonor and shame, at best I would be thrown from the cliff tops above the old mines. A more pleasant death."

"Obviously there was a third option," Jack said with a note of sarcasm as he looked about the small hovel.

"Murder is never an option, Colonel, but I hoped Matlal's death might bring about pause for my people, a moment of time to look at what they'd been doing, and perhaps usher in some changes."

"And did it?"

"No." Teiuc gave him a wry smile. "But it did give me some peace." Shifting on her stool, and appearing to fuss with her hair, she continued, "When Matlal returned from the temple, he was furious. My emotional outburst during the ceremony had caused him embarrassment, and in his eyes, I had further angered the gods. Citing his deception as a cause for my distress I was able to placate his anger for a short while, long enough to feed him the oil from the Lhatzu flower in his wine. As fragrant as the flower is, it has an oil filled sac below its bud that is lethal when ingested. Even skin contact with the oil can be deadly if not treated swiftly. Matlal died quickly and I couldn't even afford him the dignity of dying in my arms. Instead I clamped my hand across his mouth as the poison coursed through his veins and he bled out from every orifice."

"Nasty," Jack said with a wince.

"Waiting for nightfall, I slipped through the rear of our home, and taking only what I could carry, made my way away from the village towards the Tepan Mountains, and the dead forest that leads to Tlaloc's gate."

"Wait." Jack held up his right hand, brow bunched in thought. "I don't recall passing through any dead forest on our way to the village."

"There is more than one way," Teiuc said, offering Jack a half shrug as she reached up to pull her hair away from her face. "The Tepan Mountains are farther away but the forest offers greater coverage despite most of the trees being dead."

"And they made no effort to hunt you down?" Sam asked, dragging her attention away from the vial of mocuepa for the moment.

"They never did. Oh, the warriors of the Yahtepec found me with no problem. Weighed down by my belongings and exhausted from the events of the day, I barely made it past the edge of the village. Fearing their intentions I tried to run further but they simply walked behind me, pushing me slowly along the path to the Tepan forest until they turned and left. Knowing I was now considered in exile, and still unsure as to why I was allowed to live, I took this as a good sign and made my home here."

Jack's frustration was reaching boiling point, and showing a modicum of restraint he rested back on his hands, chewing on his bottom lip. "This brings us back to the mocuepa… again."

Gesturing towards the vial Sam still held in her hand, Teiuc snorted and screwed up her face in a show of distaste, "The mocuepa is a drug my husband procured from an off world trader in exchange for fifty of our fittest young men and women. Given the unique properties of the drug, it appeared to be a more than fair trade. Most of our people don't know of the drug's existence, and the loss of so many of our people was easily explained away when the drug was accompanied by large quantities of food supplies and livestock. Once again the Yahtepec were living off the lives of their young and no one dared question the High Priest's decisions." Teuic reached out towards Sam and gestured for her to hand the vial over with a wiggle of her fingers.

Holding the vial up, Teiuc licked her dry lips. "You must understand that I only know of the drug because of Matlal's position as High Priest of Tlaloc, and I can't be sure that what I know is entirely accurate. I overheard Matlal speak of mocuepa to his aide, Zolin. He claimed it was used by evil gods to maintain their youthful looks when they traveled away from their kingdoms. The effect of the drug worked differently on those that were not of the gods or their warriors, and was a blessing to the Yahtepec. At first I did not understand what this meant until I saw it used for the first time. Two travelers came through the door, and after being escorted to the city, they were subdued at the temple and given the mocuepa. I was attending Tlaloc's Cuauhxicalli-,"

"What is a Cuauhxicalli?" Teal'c asked.

Teiuc looked up at Teal'c with a blank expression followed by a frown - like she hadn't understood the question. "The Cuauhxicalli is a vessel that holds the hearts of those that have made sacrifice. It was my duty as Matlal's wife to attend the vessel daily and ensure it was properly maintained. It was during this time that I witnessed the effects of the mocuepa." Teiuc coughed and straightened her back. "I saw the two visitors being carried into the temple, and knowing I was not supposed to be witnessing temple duties at this level, I hid behind the Cuauhxicalli. One of the men woke and thrashed against the temple guards who pinned him to the ground. Matlal pulled the vial out from under his cloak and tipped its contents down his throat, clamping a hand over his mouth to stop him from spitting it out. The effect was…." Teiuc's voice softened and trailed off, and she appeared lost in her own thoughts.

"Teiuc?" Sam called softly, reaching out to stroke the old woman's arm.

"I am sorry." She shook her head and raised her hands to her face. "I have never seen anything like it. The man changed before my eyes. His pain was obvious and I can still hear his screams in my sleep. Twisting against the guards, he just seemed to get… smaller. But it was more than just his size that was affected. He became younger, his skin softer and lighter, like someone who has not been in the sun. In a matter of moments he was a child of no more than four or five summers. I knew at that moment that this was what the mocuepa did. It took the old and turned them young, but it only worked on visitors through the door, and as I soon learned, it didn't work on every visitor.

Matlal tried the drug on our own people in desperation but nothing happened. We could only guess that something in our physiology was blocking the drug and preventing it from working. Whatever was causing us to live longer and have fewer children could well be preventing the drug from working.

Zolin was furious but Matlal placated his fury claiming that unless we were offering a true child of the Yahtepec, Tlaloc would not want a false one created by this dug using his own children – us. It was fortunate the drug did not work on the Yahtepec. However, Matlal, in his misguided and desperate mind, believed a child created from off worlders would be accepted. I never saw the logic behind this."

"There isn't," Jack fumed in a low grumble, his lips pursed, "but at least we know what they've done with Daniel."

"This means ever since the last true Yahtepec child was sacrificed-,"

"Itzli," Teiuc interjected with a hiss.

"Right, Itzli," Sam continued, "your people have been using mocuepa on unsuspecting visitors through the door and sacrificing them in the name of your gods?"

"That is correct. I don't live in the village any longer and so I'm not privy to exactly what goes on but I have seen visitors being escorted from the door never to return again."

"I know of this drug," Teal'c said softly, his far away look a sign that he was searching through his vast wealth of experiences. "It is called Ta'hati by the Goa'uld and was indeed used when they could not access a sarcophagus, but the drug was deemed dangerous, and its use discontinued. Although it achieved the desired aging effect, it most often sent the symbiote mad after prolonged use, and was only suitable for use on a hosted humanoid."

"So? What? Some enterprising Goa'uld took it upon himself to sell off his excess stock?" Jack asked with a sarcastic sting in his voice.

"It is most likely, O'Neill."

Jack shook his head. _This is nuts_, he thought leaning against the wall of the hut and running his hands through his sweat soaked hair. "The drug obviously worked on Daniel or he'd be here with us, and they're going to do what? Sacrifice him?"

Teiuc nodded sharply, her eyes downcast.

"Not this time, lady. Daniel's used up his quota of wakes and this is one party we're not going to have. When will this sacrifice take place?"

"Mocupea can only be given to each chosen three times before it loses its effect and the child becomes an adult again. I am not sure of the time frame between doses but I would guess that the sacrifice will take place at next dawn."

Jack stood up on shaky legs and groaned at the queasiness still churning in the pit of his stomach. Stepping towards the hut's door, he pulled back the canvas and peered outside. "How long till dawn?"

"The sun will rise in about eight hours."

"Carter?" Jack turned back to his 2IC as she tapped on her watch and muttered a few calculations to herself.

"Based on the rotation-"

"Just the answer, Carter."

Sam tilted her head from side to side still concentrating on her watch. "I'd say we have about six of **our** hours, sir."

"Great," Jack scuffed the toe of his boot into the ground and sat back down, "six hours, no weapons and no GDO. We've been in worse situations before."

"Name one, O'Neill."

To be continued…


	5. Chapter 5

Soft feathers flowed downwards from the neck of Luc's tlimatl, brightly dyed plumes in various shades of blue echoed power under his touch, and he smiled in anticipation of the coming ritual. It was the only hint of satisfaction he would allow himself in the face of the off worlders' escape. He knew they were hiding with the old crone, Teiuc. The temple warriors had tracked them as far as her hovel but no further, still clinging to their superstitious belief that the woman was possessed by one of the Evil ones through Tlaloc's door.

Luc's golden chalchivitl clasp and black robe were spread out on the table before him in preparation for the sacrifice. Picking up the robe, he ran the fabric between his thumb and forefinger before pulling his hand away. Dried flecks of blood clung to his skin, not from one person, but from the thousands of children who had walked the path to Tlaloc.

The robe was ancient. Passed down from one High Priest to another, it was worn under the small feathered tlimatl and quite often drenched with the blood of many sacrifices by the end of each ritual day.

Time and years had passed in a bloody blur, and the robe remained unwashed. An abomination, the smell was rank and the weight oppressive. Even though he knew the tears and pain that wove through the weave, Luc smiled in triumph. Soon, it would be slid over his shoulders, and the thought of such power made his nerves tingle.

The number of sacrifices had declined over the last few centuries with their reliance on the mocuepa to provide suitable supplicants, and this latest batch had proven to be a disappointment. Neither he nor Zolin knew why the mocuepa had failed on the other three off-worlders, although Luc was sure the servant of Evil probably had some resistance to the drug.

Tlaloc's sacrificial mask stared out at him from its resting place on the far wall of his small temple sanctuary. It made the whole ritual all that more important and necessary for it was the face of the god himself. Large circular eyes representing pools of water sat amongst blue dyed clay lozenges and feathers, all holding a particular spiritual significance for Tlaloc. The mask was hideously heavy and he sweated profusely when he wore it but the closeness he felt to his god washed away his discomfort and left him euphoric.

"Luc."

Luc sighed and placed the robe back on the table. "Yes, Malinche." He didn't bother turning to greet the temple servant, her gravelly tone and the rustle of her skirt had already alerted him to her presence.

"The supplicant has been given the second dose and is asleep in his room."

"What of his memories?" He turned his head to the side, just catching Malinche's slightly kowtowed form near the sanctuary door.

"He has been calling for his parents."

"He has no parents!" Luc turned to face Malinche head on, the force of his words causing her to shuffle a few steps backwards. "He is a gift to the gods and his fate is sealed. You be sure he knows his place, Malinche!"

"I-I have," Malinche stammered, "he is strong willed this one, but the mocuepa is breaking down his barriers. I will be giving him the final dose soon and he will remember nothing by the time the ceremony is upon us."

Barreling his chest, hands on hips, Luc hardened his gazed at Malinche before dismissing her with a flick of his wrist, and turning back to the mask, muttered cruelly, "I hope you are right or you may take his place at the altar."

Sandals scuffing the stone floor, the rustle of her skirt, and Malinche was gone, leaving Luc alone in blessed silence. The mask and ritual robes called to him again and like a true devotee, he let himself be pulled along by their siren as he reached out to caress the tools of his trade.

~oOo~

Waking up was hard and fraught with fear. Still locked in the dying threads of slumber, Daniel's mind subconsciously remembered the last time he was awake, and this time he woke reeling in terror.

The coldness of the room bit at him like insects buzzing across his skin, and the stench of unfamiliar surroundings assaulted his senses. Still curled up on his side, his flimsy robe providing very little respite from the cold, he shivered mercilessly, dragging in sob filled breaths.

Snatches of images tumbled through his mind, leaving him confused and disorientated. Smiling faces, familiar and happy, their arms stretched out towards him were overlayed almost instantly with those of a stranger. Face twisted into a snarl, her spit smeared lip snapped at him, but Daniel couldn't recall why.

Cold and very much alone, Daniel held no control over his emotions as his sobs turned into keening wails and the walls of his cell closed in around him.

~oOo~

Jack looked up at the horizon trying to ignore the first fingers of dawn crawling across the distant mountain range. SG-1 and the native woman Teiuc had made steady time back to the village, skirting around its outer boundary in a wide arc and avoiding the roving Yahtepec patrols.

The small wooden stake in his hand was crudely made but its sharply honed tip would be deadly in its effectiveness. Teal'c had sized the weapon for use in close quarter fighting, and in the absence of anything else of use, it was all they had.

Bringing the elderly Teiuc with them was not part of Jack's original plan, and he conceded they would have set a quicker pace without her, but her knowledge of the land had proven invaluable. Crossing over nearly barren plains with little or no natural cover was dangerous.

Sound traveled quickly and any Yahtepecan for miles would have been able to detect their approach, but Teiuc guided them safely to the outskirts of the city. The woman's advanced years seemingly not hindering her ability to move quickly, Jack nonetheless breathed a sigh of relief when the sprawling temple complex came into view.

Light from twin moons bathed the temples in a soft yellow glow that bled down onto the city nestled below. Nothing stirred; the only sound Jack could hear was the soft chirping of insects and the occasional breath from his team. Shivering against the chill of the night air, Jack tried to make out movement in the city, wishing, not for the first time, that they'd escaped with even just one pack. Binoculars would have been useful about now.

"I see no movement, O'Neill." Teal'c had moved in beside him atop the small dusty knoll they'd chosen as a surveillance point. "However the path leading up to the temple complex is wide and offers no coverage to conceal our approach."

Jack looked stunned. "You can see that far?"

"Jaffa **are **known for their excellent vision."

With a wriggle of his hips, Jack nudged forward till he was perched beyond the edge of the knoll. "Well, I can't see squat but in light of your superior vision, I think we need to come at this from the hill to the right of the first temple."

"Chalchiutlicue," Teal'c offered.

"Right," Jack turned onto his right side and looked over Teal'c to Carter and Teiuc hidden behind a grove of dead trees. "Listen, we don't have much in the way of weaponry and I don't fancy going hand to hand with these guys with the old woman around."

"Her knowledge of the temple layout will prove most valuable."

He knew that, and conceded the point with a barely perceptible nod. Turning back onto his stomach, he pointed out towards the distant temples. "We approach from the right side and slide around the rear of what's-her-face's place. I noticed when we were coming into the city the first time there were a series of buildings linking the two. Don't know if they can be used for gaining access but they might provide some useful cover."

"Teiuc believes we will be able to gain access to Tlaloc's temple without much resistance once the sacrificial process has commenced."

Jack blanched. They had no idea how much time they had from the commencement of the ritual till when the first sacrifice took place, but if Daniel was the only supplicant they had, he guessed they wouldn't have much time. "We're going to have to be in place before it starts. No telling when they start killing, and I'm guessing Daniel will be their top billing."

Teal'c grumbled his agreement and slid off the mound leaving Jack to take a final look over the vista. Flipping the cover off his watch, he took note of the time. If Carter's calculations were correct they still had at least three hours till sunrise.

_Plenty of time, Jack. _

His frustrations bubbling to the surface, Jack was barely holding onto a modicum of patience and hope. They'd wasted time listening to Teiuc's ramblings, gleaning a few threads of useful intel and nothing more. History was not his forte - Daniel would have enjoyed it, no doubt - and he'd be lucky if he'd managed to retain but a fraction of what she'd tried to impart.

Pulling back from the knoll, he brushed down his uniform shirt front and picked up his stake. "Time's a wastin', kids, let's go."

~oOo~

Malinche regarded the small child in front of her as a commodity and nothing more. Where as once the child sacrifices of the Yahtepec were looked upon as precious lives to be entrusted into the heart of their gods, these new children were a means to appease Tlaloc and Chal, and nothing more.

Caught in a troubled sleep, the child shivered against the cold. Lips trembling, muscles tensing, and all the while Malinche looked on, offering no comfort.

Tlaloc would be pleased with this offering.

The boy had fight in him, and fought hard against the mocuepa, but in the end, the drug had won over. This was to be his final dose before the ceremony took place. The mocuepa had the added bonus of wiping away a person's memories, which served the Yahtepec people well. After centuries of relying on the drug for their sacrificial purposes, they didn't need the supplicants reminding them of how wrong their actions were.

Malinche crossed the small space and shook him by the shoulder. "Wake up," she hissed, uncaring as his head lolled back and forth unsupported. Pulling him up into a sitting position, she retrieved a vial from a pouch on her skirt and pulled the stopper with her teeth, spitting it out to one side. "Open your mouth," she commanded, pressing the vial to his lips despite knowing he was not fully awake.

Foul smelling as well as foul tasting, the mocuepa served its purpose in many ways as the first drops hit the boy's tongue and bought him instantly alert. "No!" he cried, batting at the vial with uncoordinated hands and turning his head to the side.

Malinche immediately dragged her hand away from his shoulder and thrust her forearm under his chin, forcing his head back. "I said, open your mouth."

The boy was stronger than she gave him credit for, and she paid for her lapse when he lashed out with a well placed kick to her groin. "You little…" Dropping to her knees, Malinche threw her weight against his chest, effectively pinning him to the wall. Her arm free, she cupped his chin, forcing his mouth open and tipped the vial of mocuepa down his throat.

Despite his size, the boy struggled fiercely under her hold, lashing out with his legs and arching his back, but she held on tight. Several minutes passed before the mocuepa dulled his senses and his struggles abated, leaving him heavy in Malinche's arms.

Putting the child down, Malinche stood over him, her long dark hair flowing down over her chest, ending just above her waist. Cupping him by the chin, she turned his head from side to side before releasing him, standing back with a satisfied smile on her face. "Just the way Tlaloc likes his offerings. Young and compliant, a worthy sacrifice."

~oOo~

The interior of Chalchiuhtlicue's temple was not nearly as impressive as the exterior. Whilst the focus of the Yahtepec people seemed to be on both Tlaloc and Chal, clearly, Chal's temple earned the least of their attention. Dark and uninviting, its long corridors and drab amphitheatre had definitely seen better times. Cobwebs hung from almost every wall, lit up for ghoulish effect by randomly placed torches – the only sign anyone had visited the place recently.

Scattered remnants of long neglected furniture littered the amphitheatre like a graveyard of bones, presided over by a long rectangular altar. Snatching a torch from its bracket, Jack swung it through a veil of spider webs, jumping back as the webs hissed and crackled, raining fine wisps of ash onto the floor.

"Tell me I'm not going to regret this, Carter?" Jack made his way up a small flight of steps to stand before the altar. The rough granite sides cut from a larger block, probably many millennia ago, gave way to an amazingly smooth surface. Jack ran his hand across the top, frowning as his fingers slid in and out of grooves marked in the rock, not wanting to imagine how they had been made.

"I think we can trust her, sir." Sam's voiced ghosted his ear and he shuddered at her closeness. Spotting the old crone standing hesitantly near the entrance to the amphitheater, Jack guessed his 2IC had purposely left the woman there.

"Trust isn't the issue here," he replied pulling his hand away and fisting it in his pocket. "Her being a liability when we're in so deep, we don't have time to protect her, is."

"She's been looking after herself for so long, sir, I don't think she's expecting we'll be around to save her when the going gets rough." Sam moved in even closer, turning her back away from Teiuc and blocking her view of Jack's face. "Besides," she murmured softly, "she may be able to distract the Yahtepec and give us time to snatch Daniel, and we need all the help we can find."

"O'Neill!"

"What ya' got?" Jack sang out, holding Sam's gaze for a few seconds before jumping down the stairs away from the altar.

Teal'c pulled aside a large threadbare wall hanging, its once lively colored woven mural long faded and moth eaten, to reveal a cobweb covered opening. "From the location of this entrance I would assume this tunnel leads us directly towards Tlaloc's temple."

"It does," Teiuc said softly, walking out from the shadows of a nearby wall. "This tunnel links to a similar room in Tlaloc's temple. Although Chal used this chamber for her own animal sacrifices, Tlaloc's sanctum is not used for the same purpose. When the sacrifices moved from the Animas to the temple, Tlaloc's sanctum was deemed too small for such an occasion, and in an effort to be closer to the gods, a raised altar was assembled."

"This is amazing." Sam moved to join them, her gaze never leaving Teiuc's face. "The raised sacrificial altar has been part of Earth's Aztec culture for as long as there has been an Aztec culture. I would have thought the concept might have followed the culture from their Earth bound roots, but obviously not."

"Carter?" Jack asked in a quizzical tone as though he was looking at her over the top of imagined glasses. "Since when has the Aztec culture been part of your resume?"

Sam threw her CO a wry smile and whispered, "Some of us do pay attention in Daniel's briefings."

"Yeah," Jack coughed, "speaking of which. If this tunnel links to Tally's temple, we should be able to get through with minimal resistance, right?" Jack slid his gaze over to Teiuc.

"Tlaloc's sanctum was not in use during my time at the temple, however I can not be sure if that holds true now. Luc may have found a purpose for the room."

"So," Jack stretched the word out for effect, "minimal resistance, right?"

Teiuc shrugged and crossed her arms, looking down the darkened tunnel. "This way hasn't been used since the gods were in residence, assuming nothing has changed, and with the coming of dawn on a ritual day, I would believe the path to be clear."

"That's what I like to hear." Running a finger across the sharp point of his wooden stake, Jack gave the tunnel one last quick assessing look and cocked an eyebrow at Teal'c. "You found it, you lead the way."

~oOo~

Daylight crept its way slowly across the low lying ranges that shadowed the Yahtepec village. Thin fingers of color, oranges, yellows and blues, teased away the night and pushed the stars out of sight to sleep the day away.

In the village below, the Yahtepec were just waking. The subdued noises of night gave way to the rising sounds of people going about their morning rituals and ablutions, food being prepared and the day's events being hotly discussed. This was no normal day though, and the Yahtepec people were acutely aware of the part they all had to play in the forthcoming rituals.

Human sacrifices were accepted as easily as the rising sun, but the frequency of which they were preformed had declined greatly over many centuries and with it the very existence of the Yahtepec. Life was inexorably tied into the custom of giving to their gods, and all knew when the gods were pleased.

The gods had not been pleased in a very long time.

Luc stood on his squat balcony at the northern face of Tlaloc's temple with his arms wide, soaking in the morning sun's rays and letting its warmth ease away the chills of the night. Casting his gaze down upon the village, he let a sad sigh escape his lips as he searched for life amongst the houses.

There was a time, his father had told him, when supplicants for the re-dedication ceremony numbered so many, they stretched beyond the temple walls and down the path to the village.

Quite often it took the High Priest several days to complete the sacrifices. Of course, Yahtepec had been a thriving city at that time, its population swelling well beyond the ability of its resources, forcing the citizens to migrate out beyond the city limits. Still, when the call to sacrifice was issued, parents would flock to the temples, eager to see their child become most beloved of the gods.

The ritual itself was ingrained in Luc, in all of the Yahtepec. Its observance a way of life for his people that had gone from a simple desire to appease Tlaloc and Chal, to a battle for their very existence waged on ethereal planes most knew little about.

Once a reasonably gentle ritual, it had turned into a blood lust spurred on by a frenzied crowd. Luc appreciated that the ritualistic performance had evolved over the centuries, his own involvement more prominent than in the past. Fewer sacrifices meant his role as head priest had taken on an almost theatrical theme, drawing out the ceremony for greater effect.

If the gods appreciated his efforts, they weren't forthcoming with their thanks, and this was enough to have him doubt this time honored tradition.

"The time grows near, Luc." Zolan's voice drifted to him from the dim depths of his private chambers, causing him to shudder at the unexpected intrusion into his thoughts. "You should be preparing yourself for the ritual."

"Always in such a hurry, my friend, I'm sure Tlaloc will not begrudge me a few moments of quiet contemplation before I offer up another life in his name."

"Do I hear contempt in your voice?"

Luc cocked his head to the side, his gaze not quite taking in Zolin, and snorted softly. "Contempt? No. Quiet pause… maybe."

"It's not like you to second guess yourself."

"Is that what you think I'm doing?" Luc hissed, turning sharply to face Zolin before shrugging and turning back to gaze out over the vista. "I am neither second guessing myself nor in contempt of my gods. You misunderstand."

"Oh?"

"Do you not see what is in front of you, Zolin?" Luc thrust his hands to encompass the village below like an embrace. "Where have they gone? Where are our children?"

"They are with the gods, sacrificed so that we may live. You know this, Luc."

"I do," Luc acknowledged solemnly. "But even you aren't so blind you can't see what lies before you. Our streets are bare; our hearts are empty. We have taken what was good in our lives-"

"And given them to our gods!" Zolin interrupted, spinning Luc around with a heavy hand on his shoulder, face flushed with concern. "Luc, do you begin to doubt your place in this world? The sacrifice is not a game! It is not even a tradition. We do what is expected of us. To not sacrifice would be an offense to Tlaloc."

Shrugging out from under Zolin's grasp, Luc spun on his heels back towards the window and hissed over his shoulder, "Do not dare to remind me of my place. I am Tlaloc's chosen High Priest, and it is an office I do not take lightly. I am no fool, Zolin. You know just as well as I do we are fast approaching a time when the reputation of our world as being a place travelers do not return from will jeopardize the ritual completely. What do you suppose will happen when we can no longer provide the gods with worthy sacrifices? Who will save us then?"

"Tlaloc-"

"What? Tlaloc will do what exactly? Zolin, you are a good friend and trusted advisor, you have served both Matlal and myself for centuries, please, I know you can see quite clearly what has happened to our people. We are on the verge of extinction. While it is true we are living longer, we can no longer produce children, and what children we had have all been given in the name of fair weather and flourishing crops, neither of which we have been blessed with in centuries."

"Your words disturb me greatly," Zolin muttered under his breath.

"In what way?" Luc turned away from the balcony and strode back into the room, his face set in a heavy scowl. "You are concerned I might have doubts about the need to sacrifice or that perhaps you share those doubts with me?"

"I-"

"Yes?"

"The hour is almost upon us, Luc. Do you waver in your hesitation enough to anger your gods? Perhaps I should address the village and tell them today's re-dedication ceremony is canceled because of your wavering faith."

Schooling his features, Luc pushed Zolin's attempt at forcing his hand to the back of his mind to be remembered and acted upon later. For too many centuries the old man had lived in the security of the temple and its cloistered way of life, serving the High Priests and ultimately the gods.

Perhaps Zolin's time had come.

Luc could feel the stirrings of change in the air, unsure of whether it was to be of his own making or a general acceptance that if the Yahtepec were to survive as a people, the rituals of the past needed to be closely examined.

Dismissing Zolin's traitorous stare, Luc crossed to where his tlimatl cloak lay spread out waiting for its master. The feathers faded by the passing of time and rigors of use, Luc ran a hand over the plumes, frowning at their coarseness but similarly caught up in the rich history behind its use.

Accepting change was inevitable, he conceded it wasn't going to happen today, and fingering the fine chalchvitl clasp, motioned for Zolin to help him. "You are right, my friend, now is not the time, we have a god to appease, and a most worthy supplicant to offer him."

To be continued…


	6. Chapter 6

Cold panic ran through the child, his red-rimmed eyes flush with fresh tears that tracked their way down his dirty face. Nothing was familiar to him, and in the frightened recesses of his mind, he could find no memories to draw on. Waking alone and in the dark, he'd quickly found a wall and eased himself along its rough surface till it intersected at a corner. Offering him no warmth, it at least gave him a feeling of security, the touch momentarily stilling his trembling body enough to ease his sobbing down to a thread of a whimper.

Every so often muffled voices from beyond his room carried to his ears and he instinctively called out to them hoping to find solace… even in a stranger.

But no one came.

Curling up in to a ball, dragging his knees to his chest he finally succumbed to sleep, hiccuping sobs evening out as the lure of rest overtook his fear and the numbing cold.

"Get up!"

A rough hand grabbed at his threadbare covering, jerking him instantly awake. Where he had fallen asleep in total darkness, he could now see his surroundings clearly, courtesy of a flaming torch hanging next to the door.

Rough hands pulled at him. The sound of fabric being torn heightened his fear, as what clothing he'd been wearing was stripped away, leaving him naked and shivering.

"Please," he begged, finally finding his voice as more hands grabbed his arms, holding them above his head.

"Quiet!" a voice hissed at him, and jerking his head up, he came face to face with an old woman, her weathered face snarled and twisted into a sneer, eyes dark and intense.

A slap to his thigh momentarily dazed him; the biting sting building as seconds passed till the urge to cry overwhelmed him and a scream tore through his lungs.

Struggling against the hands that held him, the boy lashed out with his feet, twisting his body to free his arms from the restraining grip. With a grunt of surprise, the old woman staggered back, giving the boy just enough space to make a break for the door.

Light blinded him as he broke from the room into daylight. Dazed and confused, he stumbled for direction, charging off into the first open space he could find.

~oOo~

"Where are we?" Jack hissed at Teiuc as they all took shelter behind massive columns in what he supposed was Tlaloc's amphitheatre.

The tunnel had predictably joined both temples, and centuries of disuse found it dust filled and crawling with spiders, all of which left Jack more than a little creeped out. Pushing away the crumbling ruins of a once magnificent wooden door, they'd slid the wall hanging aside to find a chamber almost identical to the one they'd left in Chal's temple.

Though not cluttered in broken furniture and debris, the room was clearly no longer in use. Monstrous webs hung from the ceilings like silken sheets, casting eerie shadows on the stone walls.

Calling for quiet, Jack put his ear up against the door and listened. The temple was quiet, but glancing at his watch, Jack knew it wouldn't stay that way for long. If Carter's calculation was right, they had less than an hour till true dawn and still no idea on how they were going to rescue Daniel.

Drawn back to the present, Jack gave Teiuc an inquiring look as the old woman gazed slowly around her. Taking advantage of the quiet hour and lack of temple workers or guards, the team left the amphitheatre and made their way down a cramped corridor that widened out in to a circular room. Tall columns ringed the space, and a hand drawn face, nestled amongst delicately carved Aztec pictographs, looked out from each column into the center of the room as though they were standing guard.

"This is the meeting hall," Teiuc answered Jack's unspoken question, nodding her confidence. "The High Priest uses this place to discuss the city's affairs with his advisers. The faces are meant to guard the secrets being discussed. Only those invited here by Matlal, and now Luc, were ever allowed to enter. To be found here uninvited was instant death. We are not safe."

"Lady," Jack said sourly, "we're not safe anywhere. Don't think for a second they wouldn't kill us no matter where they found us. This hardly counts as news."

Teiuc conceded the point with a wry smile and pointed a gnarled finger towards the back of the room. "Through there is the Cuauhxicalli chamber and beyond that is Luc's personal rooms. That is where we need to be."

"I'm sorry, but I was under the impression we needed to be wherever this ceremony was taking place."

"We do," Teiuc snapped testily, her gaze wandering around the room and settling back on the exit, "but if I am to understand your Major correctly, you can not rescue the child without weapons."

"Weapons?" Jack questioned, his curiosity suddenly piqued.

"Come, we must hurry."

Carter reached out to grab Teiuc by the arm before she could leave. "Teiuc, we don't just rush in without having some basic knowledge of what we're up against. Where are these weapons?"

"No. Not **these** weapons, **your **weapons. When travelers through the door are brought to the temple for sacrifice, their belongings are confiscated and brought here as well. Nothing is wasted when giving to the gods. During my work at the temple, I was allowed into the reliquary where such items were stored. Luc and Zolin also stored many of our religious tokens there."

Face scrunched in thought, Carter muttered, "Now there is a name I recognize."

"Indeed," Teal'c replied. "He was with Luc at the hut when we first awoke."

"Zolin is Luc's chief adviser and overseer of the temple."

Jack scrubbed a hand across his face and took another glance down at his watch. "Time's a'ticking here, folks, so let me get this straight. We get to Luc's rooms and there is a good chance we can retrieve our weapons, right?"

"There is, but we must move now. Very soon the temple guards will arrive from the city in preparation for the sacrifice. The halls will be impassable."

"Quite frankly, I'm surprised we've gotten this far," Carter remarked with a pained expression.

"The temple is not guarded at night, save for Zolin. No one dare desecrate the home of their god so there is no need to protect it. The guards are only used during the rituals to ensure supplicants remain compliant."

"Compliant, right, whatever," Jack said sarcastically and waved towards the door to signal their departure.

"Sir, I think Teiuc should take the lead from here."

"And why would that be, Carter?"

"She knows were she's going, and anyone seeing her first, will likely not think twice."

Jack thought on that for a moment and nodded grimly. "Fine, but I'm reading a little over half hour till dawn. Daniel is quickly running out of time."

~oOo~

An air of festivity blew around the Yahtepec village and wound its way up to the high walls of Tlaloc's temple. A sprawling complex of stocky buildings and neatly trimmed terraces set against a backdrop of almost barren plains and cloud topped mountains, it could be mistaken as being a postcard setting.

At the center of the temple complex sat a magnificent altar atop a stone staircase. Made from giant rectangular slabs of hard stone mined from some distant quarry, the staircase was an engineering marvel, its beauty only tainted by the rivers of dried blood cascading down its stairs from hundreds of sacrificial rites.

At the foot of the staircase, a crowd was starting to gather. The richly painted and adorned palace guards lined the path up to the altar, their feather woven heads standing proud and tall above the rest.

Luc held his reservations in check; the clouding doubts of only a few moments ago were locked behind a door in his mind as the formalities of the ritual took over. Soon the temple square below would be alive with the animated chatter of the Yahtepec as they eagerly discussed the forthcoming ritual. Already the gathering crowd chattered happily, centuries of blood letting such a way of life for them now that the grisly details were lost behind a mask of thrill and anticipation.

Admittedly the ritual had changed for Luc now. Where once he was an enthusiastic bystander caught up in the act of yet another child taking their place with the gods, now he was more personally involved.

The ratio of men to women amongst the Yahtepec was unbalanced, and so Luc had never married. Instead he chose the seclusion of temple work as a means to satisfy his gods. His status had greatly changed when Matlal was murdered by his wife, thus elevating him to the exalted position of High Priest.

The announcement came as somewhat of a shock. He was sure, with seniority always an issue amongst the temple workers, that Zolin would be the one to take up the mantle, but Matlal, with his dying breath, had decreed Luc was to replace him, thus passing the older man over.

Zolin appeared to take this news in his stead, not once showing any jealously over the decision, and always availing himself of Luc. In the centuries since his appointment as High Priest, he had struck both a firm working and personal relationship with the man who had once been his superior. If Zolin showed any signs of resenting Luc his elevated status, he hid it well. Not that it would have mattered, as High Priest, Luc could easily have the man dismissed. A fact Zolin would be well aware of.

"What troubles you, Luc?" Zolin asked, holding the heavy tlimatl in his hands. "Not still harboring doubts are you?"

"No," Luc muttered indifferently keeping his gaze steady on the slowly building crowd. "The number of those attending the ritual seems smaller this time."

"We are getting old, my friend. Death, as well as the act of giving a life, is very much the way of the Yahtepec. This conversation grows weary."

The sound of mock tiredness in Zolin's tone irritated Luc. He clearly no longer knew his place, instead choosing the familiarity of friendship over his position in the hierarchical society they lived in. "Do you forget who you are?" Luc snapped, straightening his back. "Your disrespect may be your undoing."

"I know my place, Luc. It is you that worries me." Zolin shifted the weight of the tlimatl, draping it over one arm. "I do not understand your sudden questioning of our ways. You have no right to elevate the survival of a single child over that of Tlaloc and Chal."

Luc spun on his heals and cast a pleading look at Zolin. "You think this is what I've done? What manner of fool are you? You say I question our ways, and yet our ways are not the issue here. Tell me, Zolin, when was the last time you truly communed with the gods, where you can honestly say they listened to your prayers and hopes and sought to make change? How many times have we given sacrifice only to see the days grow even harsher and the crops fail for yet another season? How many times? The sacrifices were meant to please the gods and now I have to wonder if the gods are even listening."

"That is-"

"What? Blasphemy? Heresy? It is none of those, but a simple need to rationalize a practice that has gone on for so long we have long since forgotten what our gods truly meant to us. Tlaloc is the god of rains and fertility, both of which give life. Chalchiuhtlicue is the goddess of lakes, rivers, and the patron of baptism. These are our gods, Zolin, they don't take life, they create and nurture it, or have you forgotten?"

"Luc, forgive me!" Malinche panted breathlessly, coming to a halt at the entrance to Luc's chamber. "It is the boy!"

"What of him?" Luc asked, holding his gaze on Zolin for a few moments before turning it on Malinche.

"He has escaped."

"What?"

"I was preparing for the ceremony and he broke free of my grasp."

Anger bubbled in Luc. Clenching and unclenching his fists, he crossed the room in a few strides to stand in front of Malinche. "Why aren't you looking for him?"

"I thought you should know so I sent two of the temple guards after him. I am sorry, Luc, he is far stronger and cunning than I anticipated."

"How could you let this happen?" Zolin hissed, drawing himself into the conversation. "Dawn is breaking and the ceremony is about to commence."

"I am aware of that," Malinche retorted. "We are searching for him now. There are only so many rooms of the lower ground of the temple he can hide in."

"It is the effectiveness of the mocuepa I am more concerned about," Zolin added, finding the weight of the tlimatl too heavy and tossing it on a nearby table. "If the ceremony is not conducted at the proper hour, the effects will be reversed. You know this, Malinche. You should have taken more precautions."

"I thought I had. This child is strong, this is not the first time he bested me."

Shaking his head in bewilderment, Luc muttered sourly, "Then you should have taken a guard with you. In this you have failed."

Duly chastened, Malinche withdrew from the room without looking up as Luc added, "Find the boy before the appointed time, Malinche, or I shall once again be forced to find a suitable replacement at the altar."

The threat was idle but the manner in which it was given would at least ensure Malinche made every attempt to find the child. In the deep recesses of his heart, and against the better judgement of his mind, Luc held silent hope the child wouldn't be found till after the ritual hour. Though this in itself would present more problems than it solved, it at least would bring him more time to cast his now growing doubt amongst the Yahtepec, and specifically Zolin.

However, from the traitorous look the older cleric was giving him, Luc was almost certain that task would prove impossible. Still, he mused, there were other more permanent ways to take Zolin out of the picture. He needed a plan.

~oOo~

"So, what does this-?"

"Shhh," Teuic commanded raising a finger to her mouth and frowning at Jack. "Not now!"

Holed up in a small storage locker, Jack stood behind Teiuc as she held a heavy thick canvas across the door, leaving enough of a gap to see into the corridor beyond. Tutting and pulling back the covering completely, she winced, her brow knotted with concern as the sound of footfalls echoed towards them.

"Guards," she whispered.

"How can you tell?"

"They always travel in pairs. Now hush."

As the guards drew closer, Jack ran his thumb up and down the stubby shaft of the home-made stake, testing its weight in his hands. Used to relying on the mechanical might of his P-90, he compared the feeling of being without his weapon to being naked in the eyes of the enemy. Looking at the rest of his team, likewise preparing them for the likelihood of being discovered, he knew they wouldn't go down without a hard fight.

The footsteps ceased and Jack's heartbeat thudded loudly in his ears, the urge to fight over flight was starting to take hold. Carter shuddered beside him, cringing as she met his concerned 'hold it together' look just a second before the guards moved on again, the sound of their bare feet slapping against the cold stone floor.

"They are gone," Teiuc said, pointing out the obvious.

It took all of Jack's self control to hold back on adding a sarcastic "Ya think".

"Where next?" he asked sharply.

Teiuc pushed the canvas cover aside and ducked her head out into the corridor, offering them a reassuring smile when the way was clear. "There," she said, pointing to a brown colored door on the opposite side of the hall. "But we must hurry. The dawning hour is upon us and the temple square will fill quickly."

Crossing the hall, Jack pushed on the door, only to find it stuck tight. Tensing his jaw in frustration, he cocked his head at Teal'c and stood aside as the big Jaffa turned his shoulder towards the door and barreled forward.

Two attempts and the door sprung free with a shower of wood splinters.

"In," Jack hissed, grabbing Teiuc by the arm and manhandling her through the small doorway. "No time to be fussy, grab anything that we can use as a weapon."

"What about our gear?" Sam asked, shouldering her way past.

"That's a given, major, but don't waste time we don't have."

Dark and dank smelling, the circular room was lit with a single wall torch that threw barely enough light to make out the odd collection of items it held. Everything in the temple was sacred to the Yahtepec, Jack understood that, and running a hand over the nearest object, he mused how fascinating Daniel would have found this place.

Masks of different designs hung from leather cords on the walls. A low-lying stone bench ran around almost the entire circumference and was littered with an eclectic collection of objects. Some of the items Jack had a passing familiarity with; most were traveler's bags and probably held personal items and such.

"Over here," Sam whispered, holding up a backpack. "This is Daniel's and…" She paused, opening the pack and rummaging through the contents. "Got it!" she hissed triumphantly.

"What?" Jack asked, tossing her a sideways glance.

"GDO."

Jack nodded his satisfaction. "Handy if we make it to the gate. Weapons, Major, would be a whole heap better."

"Like this?"

Jack had forgotten about the Yahtepec woman, and startled, sought her out in the dim light. "That's what I mean," he said in a breath of content and relief as he crossed the room to take one of the team's P-90's from her. "Where there's one, there has to be more."

Minutes later, and with time running out, Jack called a halt to the search to take stock of their cache of weapons. One P-90, Daniel's Barretta, a knife, and two blocks of C4 – both useless without their detonators. "This will have to do," he said, tucking the gun into the waistband of his BDUs. "T, take the '90, Carter, you have the knife."

"What about the rest of our supplies, sir?"

"No time. If there was anything else here, we would have found it. We go with what we've got. Give me the pack, we're outta here."

To be continued…


	7. Chapter 7

Sanctuary was a fleeting experience for the boy. Huddled tightly in the only hiding space he could find, behind a row of squat fat vases, he hugged his midsection tightly as pain speared through his gut. Face flushed, spit dribbling down his chin, the run from his pursuers had been brief but frightening as small glimpses of memories flashed in his mind. Smells, faces, and places bombarded his senses, adding to his misery as he slid deeper into shock.

Pain blossomed in his chest, his breath hitched, and despite his best efforts not to cry out loud, he could no longer hold back. Fear and agony were ripped from his mouth to echo down the halls of the temple.

~oOo~

Sam jerked in surprise and pulled up short, wincing as Teiuc collided with her back. "What was that?" she said, turning on her heels to face back down the corridor.

"Move it, Carter," Jack hissed between bared teeth.

"I heard something."

"Well, I heard nothing. How far now?" Jack asked, looking past Carter to Teiuc.

"The courtyard where they hold the sacrifices is at the end of the next corridor," Teiuc whispered, "but we must be careful, there will be guards protecting the entrance. The supplicants are held on a lower level while they are prepared, and then taken up several stories to a holding room."

"Then what?"

"The holding room adjoins a stone walkway they must cross over to get to the ritual altar. This would be the best opportunity to rescue your friend. The only other way to the altar would be to go through the crowd in the courtyard and up the stone staircase."

"With the weapons at our disposal, I do not believe this would be the wisest course." Teal'c kept his gazed fixed on the corridor beyond.

"Right," Jack agreed, "so which way to the holding room?"

"Straight ahead. Toward the end of this hall, there is a stairwell on the right leading up to the holding room. The climb is steep and narrow, and we can only go up one at a time."

"Great, perfect place to get ourselves-"

"There it is again!"

"Carter?"

"I too heard it," Teal'c added looking one way and then another before settling on a direction. "Down there." He pointed back along the way they had just traveled.

"Heard what?" Jack asked, looking confused.

"I thought it was a child's scream." Sam looked at her watch and then up at Teiuc, fear marring her features. "Oh my god, we're too late, they must have started the sacrifice."

"Impossible. The call to sacrifice has not been sounded."

"The call?"

"Moments before sacrifice, the call is sounded for the final time to bring the crowd to order."

"So if it hasn't started, then who was screaming?"

"Daniel," Jack breathed. "It has to be."

Another cry echoed down the corridor, louder this time. "Okay, now **that** I heard!"

~oOo~

Zolin stood on the edge of the walkway and looked out at the vista below. The courtyard was filling quite nicely, even though he had to concede Luc's comment about the waning crowd numbers was correct. Still bristling at the man's stupidity and lack of faith in their gods, he turned away from the view and crossed his arms.

Brows drawn tightly, his concern was evident. The loss of the child sacrifice would throw the ritual into chaos and bring shame to the High Priest, and with a pang of betrayal, Zolin wondered if this was the opportunity he'd been yearning for.

No, he was old, and the office of priest to Tlaloc had not been part of his foreseeable future, it was a chore for the much younger and more able. He could wield more power serving as Luc's assistant than he could if he had the man disposed, and besides, any wrongdoings that occurred while Luc was in office would ultimately be reflected upon the High Priest and not himself.

He would have to find the child. Decision made, options factored in, Zolin ignored the noise from the impatient crowd below and nodded to two temple guards as he left the chamber. "With me," he ordered.

~oOo~

Malinche stormed down the temple corridors, tossing doors open, and pushing past anyone she met in her search for the boy. Luc had been furious, his attitude towards her was not unexpected at all, but the coldness she's seen in Zolin's eyes had frozen her heart.

Something was amiss between the two men but she couldn't figure out what, and didn't have time to give it much more than a fleeting thought. What she did know though, was that the child was at the heart of their problems. She'd failed in her task in preparing the supplicant and held little doubt that once the sacrifice was over, she'd be punished for her indiscretion, if she didn't become part of the ritual herself.

The guards had already searched the lower levels of the temple and started working their way upwards, and Malinche was sure the boy hadn't escaped this level. The front entrance to the temple was sealed and the awaiting crowd were locked in. There were no children left amongst the Yahtepec so a child wandering through the throng would be spotted in an instant. No, he was here somewhere, either on this level or the next one up - the number of hiding places available were limited.

A piercing cry broke the air and Malinche pulled up short and spun around. He wasn't far and the echo of footsteps slapping the stone floor told her others had heard his cry. _Probably temple guards_, she mused. She might yet be able to hold her place at the temple if she could find the child first.

~oOo~

The narrow corridor SG-1 ducked down was shrouded in darkness with the only noticeable light coming from a room at the very end. Jack didn't like this one bit, hell, the whole mission had been screwed from the start, but a probable dead end filled him with a dread that came from having been ambushed too many times in his career.

Sure, they had weapons, but they would only be as effective as the rounds they held, and the scant supplies they had recovered from the reliquary meant they were operating with limited ammunition.

Flicking the cover off his watch, Jack took note of the time and scrubbed a hand across his tired eyes. Dawn was only moments away, and if this turned out to be a dead end, then they would have lost their only chance at rescuing Daniel.

Jack barely had a moment to dwell on Daniel's fate when another cry broke the silence, followed by a string of hitched whimpers. Meeting the worried glances of his team, he immediately took point while Teal'c brought up the rear as they neared the entrance to the room.

Jack held a finger to his lips for silence, and looking at Teal'c, cocked his head towards the room. "On three! 1… 2-"

"Go no further. Show yourselves!" a gruff male voice boomed out from within the room, catching Jack by surprise. In an instant, Teal'c had his P-90 raised and inched towards the door.

"I will kill the child if you come any closer."

"Teal'c?"

Teal'c swung his weapon around the door and stepped into the room fixing his sight on an elderly Yahtepec man holding a limp child up by his arm. Spotting Teal'c, the man tightened his grip and pressed a small dagger against the boy's throat, puncturing the skin deep enough for a small bead of blood to well and trickle down his neck. "You can't have him!"

"You will achieve nothing by killing the boy." Teal'c's voice echoed around the room and down the corridor. "I strongly recommend you release him."

"No," the man hissed, looking over his shoulder towards another door as he slowly dragged the boy backwards.

"Great,' Jack muttered sourly, catching a glimpse into the room, "another door, go figure. Carter?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Back your way up the hall. Here," he said, pulling the pistol from his waistband and handing to her, "use it only if you have to. No one gets down here. Clear?"

"As ever, sir."

Watching as she moved off, Jack pulled Teiuc in close and moved into the room behind Teal'c.

"Zolin," Teiuc whispered, nudging Jack's shoulder. "He is Luc's senior advisor."

"So. Not a good guy?"

"He supervises the sacrifices."

"Right. Teal'c?"

"I am unable to get a clear shot without risking the boy."

Jack stepped out from behind Teal'c, holding his hands out wide. "Not gonna hurt you here, but you have to know, we're not leaving without our team mate."

Zolin stared intently at Teal'c, barely affording Jack as much as a cursory glare. "Come no further," he snapped, shifting his grip on the dagger and pulling Daniel in against his chest. "Your friend is no longer who he was. He is lost to you."

"You lie," Teiuc cried, stepping out from behind Teal'c. "You know too well if the sacrifice is not carried out within hours of the last dose of mocuepa, the child will return to his natural age."

"Teiuc!" Zolin sneered. "I thought I could smell your murderous stench. No matter. You are too late." Holding her gaze, he shuffled slowly towards the exit, dragging Daniel with him. "This child has been marked by Tlaloc and Chal, and I won't deny them."

"No, but I will." Luc stepped from the open doorway and in one quick and swift move, clamped one hand on Zolin's shoulder and attempted to spin him around to draw his knife arm away. The move didn't quite work. Startled, Zolin wrenched his shoulder away violently, the force thrusting the knife towards Daniel's chest.

Jack leapt forward, pushing past Teal'c, in an attempt to wrest the knife from Zolin's grip. Stronger than Jack had given him credit for, the Yahtepec elder, anticipating the move, jabbed the knife at Jack before whipping it around and burying it in Daniel's shoulder.

Daniel's eyes flew open as a silent scream tore from his throat. Clawing weakly at his shoulder, he tried to pull at the dagger but Zolin held him tight.

Jack had no interest in Zolin, other than to get Daniel free, and grabbing his child sized team mate around the waist, tried to pull him free. His tug-o-war suddenly became easier when a dark fist shot past his face and connected with Zolin's nose, the old man's head snapping back under the blow.

Jack took advantage of the unexpected interference from Teal'c and gently guided Daniel to the ground, shrugging his jacket off and tucking it around him.

"Carter!" he yelled, watching as Zolin bounced hip and shoulder off the wall, holding his arms in front of his face in a protective gesture. Teal'c wasn't buying it, the big Jaffa pushing the man's hands aside and grabbing him roughly by the scruff of his neck.

"Leave him," Luc ordered, putting himself between Teal'c and Zolin. "Take the child and leave this place."

Teal'c rocked back on his heels, his barely concealed anger still flush on his face. "What deceit is this?"

"No deceit," Luc hissed, ignoring Zolin's pained whimpers and the blood pouring from his broken nose. "Now go, leave before I change my mind."

Jack didn't need telling twice and carefully bundled Daniel up in his jacket, acutely aware his team mate hadn't so much as stirred since he was stabbed. The rise and fall of his small chest, albeit rapid, would have to suffice for now.

Straining, his knees registered their protest as he pulled Daniel in close to his chest, rocked back on his heels, and stood up. "Teal'c," he whispered, "we gotta move, let him go."

Jack turned and headed for the door as Teal'c backed out, his weapon constantly aimed at the two Yahtepec men.

~oOo~

Zolin pushed Luc away, a treacherous scowl on his face as he pinched his nose and flicked a palm full of clotted blood onto the floor. "I knew you couldn't be trusted. Your faith wavered with your first traitorous breath."

Luc shook his head sadly. "You don't understand, do you? I can't explain it any clearer than I've already tried. I haven't lost faith in our gods, quite the opposite. I simply believe there is a higher force at work here. What is a god, if not to love and protect us?"

"Pfft!" Zolin shook a bloody fist in Luc's face and sneered. "You've done their bidding for all these years and you've only just come to this realization now? Matlal chose badly when he appointed you as his successor. I never believed in your ability from the start and you have lived up to my low expectations."

"Enough, Zolin, what is done is done and your position in the temple has been forfeited."

"My position!" Zolin started and took a step forward, stabbing a finger in Luc's chest. "I am not the one who has defied our Gods and let our only supplicant go free. No, Luc, in this you are to be ashamed. It is not too late though. We can apprehend the off worlders and continue with the offering as planned."

"I have spoken, Zolin, and my word is final!"

"Your word means nothing anymore. Guards!"

~oOo~

"This is too easy." Jack adjusted the dead weight in his arms and chanced a look over his shoulder. "Just doesn't feel right."

"I do not believe we are being followed, O'Neill."

"That's not what I meant, T. I just don't buy it that they let us go so easily."

"I too am concerned," Teiuc said worriedly as they cleared the temple grounds and headed towards the edge of the forest. "It is unheard of for the High Priest to willingly release a supplicant in that manner."

"So this has happened before?" Sam reached out to grab Teiuc's arm to guide the old woman over a small rocky embankment.

"No." Checking her footing, Teiuc took a last lingering look at Tlaloc's temple and winced visibly. "It is that which bothers me greatly."

"You don't think Luc has simply had a change of heart?"

Reaching out to grasp a dry and leafless branch of a long dead tree, Teiuc steadied her balance and bit down hard on her lip. "You have seen our civilization, Major. I cannot accept that after thousands of years of unwavering service to Tlaloc and Chal, my people would just suddenly have a crisis of faith. It does not even bear considering."

Sam shook her head and gave Teiuc an inquiring look. "Not all of your people, just one person. Sometimes one is enough to execute change."

"Carter?"

"Sir?"

"Much as I enjoy discussions on comparative social customs, Daniel isn't getting any lighter and he's still got a blade stuck in his shoulder."

"Sorry. There should be a first aid kit in his pack if we can find a place to-"

Sam fell to the ground heavily and twisted around to find Teiuc sprawled next to her with Teal'c crouched nearby, the Jaffa having been the cause for their fall. "Teal'c?"

"Hush," he snapped, face intense as he cocked his head, listening keenly. "We are being pursued."

Jack hissed his discomfort as he went to ground, Daniel's head knocking against his chin. "What did you see?" he asked squinting against the sun as he looked back over the way they came.

"I **saw** nothing, it is what I heard," Teal'c stated flatly, gaze fixed firmly on a point at their rear. "I believe up to six individuals are now tracking us."

Teiuc frowned in thought. "They will be Eagle warriors from the temple of Tlaloc."

"How do you know?" Sam asked quizzically, reaching for the knife sheathed on her belt.

Teiuc nodded and turned onto her side. "They are renowned for their tracking abilities, the most ruthless of the Yahtepec warriors."

"Why would Luc let us escape and then send his guards out after us?"

"He has not. Zolin has. The Eagle warriors fall under his command. Luc controls the Jaguar warriors. This will be Zolin's doing. We cannot stay here."

Teal'c jerked his head suddenly and raised his P-90 into his shoulder, lining up the tree line in his sights. "They draw closer."

"Move it, kids. Carter, gimme a hand here."

Sliding her way across to Jack, Sam grabbed Daniel around the waist while Jack found his footing. As though the movement jolted him to awareness, Daniel's eyes snapped open and he dragged in a ragged breath, face bunched up in pain. Jack moved quickly and slapped a hand across Daniel's mouth before the boy could scream out and further give away their position. "Shh," he cooed in Daniel's ear, attempting to soothe him, but Daniel struggled harder, bucking wildly against the arms restraining him.

"Sir," Sam whispered frantically, darting her gaze between Daniel and Teal'c.

"I know, Carter, just let me calm him down."

"No time, O'Neill. We must move."

Jack could hear them now. The sound of bare feet on rocks as the warriors made their way up the dry riverbed. It was an old tactic that usually worked on the less skilled unit, but not this team. Jack pushed Daniel's face into his shoulder and held his head there as he rose to his feet, praying his muffled cries would die down.

"I believe we should split up, O'Neill."

"No," Jack said flatly, his jaw tense. "We don't have the fire power to defend ourselves independently."

"Sir, if we split up, we can draw them away from you while you head to the gate. If Teal'c takes the high ground, he can come back via the original path we took from the gate and I can follow the riverbed for a short distance and throw them off your trail. I can circle back and meet you in the forest before the gate."

"I don't know, Carter." Daniel's thrashings had finally ceased and once again he lay limply in Jack's arms, wheezing puffs of ragged breath hot against Jack's chest.

"I believe this to be the wisest course of action, O'Neill."

Meeting the concerned looks of his team mates in turn, Jack conceded the point with a resigned shrug and nodded towards Teiuc. "What about her?"

"I will go with Major Carter. I know many short cuts in this area that may be of some help."

Not used to running from a fight, Jack only had to look at the bundle of misery in his arms to know he was virtually choiceless, and pursing his lips, smiled grimly. "Be careful. Carter, give me the GDO. If you two can keep the goons off my six, I'll get to the gate and come back with some reinforcements."

"Yes, sir." Sam dusted off her pants and pulled the GDO out of her jacket pocket. "We'll be careful."

To be continued…


	8. Chapter 8

Jack swayed drunkenly from side to side, Daniel's small, bloodied body cradled limply against his chest. Casting a gaze around the shadowy forest clearing, he knew he had to find shelter soon, and the banshee-like howls from behind him told Jack his options were running out.

Sure, the Yahtepec warriors had chosen to follow the deliberately more visible targets of his team mates, Jack had been cautiously optimistic of their chances once they hit the densely wooded 'dead' forest. But, in keeping with the mission thus far, lady fate had thrown her dice and decided Jack needed some entertainment, like he hadn't had enough lately.

Concerned with Daniel's deteriorating condition, keeping out of plain sight, and putting one foot in front of the other, Jack didn't hear the lone warrior sneaking up on his position. It was almost a fatal mistake. Daniel had chosen that exact time to pass out again in Jack's arms just as the warrior broke through the scrub and charged at them with his club held high.

Knowing fighting was never going to be an option, Jack bolted straight into the forest and didn't look back.

Now, Daniel moved restlessly in his arms, blood soaking through the BDU jacket Jack had used to wrap Daniel in. Jack cringed. He already knew where the blood was coming from.

The small ceremonial dagger was still embedded in his friends shoulder. There had been no time to take it out, and even less time to rummage through Daniel's pack for the med kit. In haste, and on the run, Jack had had no option but to leave the blade in place.

Another cry pierced the air, closer this time. Clutching Daniel's pain-wracked body tighter, Jack ducked his head and crooned softly, "Hang on, buddy, I'm doing the best I can here." Trying to see through the shadows around him, he spun around, trying to gauge whether the trail was still safe to follow. "Crap, which way?" Deciding it was a no-go, he hoisted Daniel's small limp body higher in his arms and ran.

Heaving, his lungs bursting, Jack lost all sense of time and direction, but not his sense of urgency. Despite the zigzagging path he'd blazed through the forest, the warriors' taunts still hung in the air.

"Move, O'Neill, move your sorry ass," he hissed, and taking another gulp of air, he pushed on. Escape was the only thing that mattered, and Jack O'Neill was an expert at staying alive.

A cry shot through the air, and Jack froze. Drawing in ragged breaths, he hunkered down behind a fallen tree. Shifting Daniel's body and rocking back on his heels, he peered from behind a branch and heaving, wheezed out, "Nothing to see here, just catching my breath is all."

The crackling rustle of moving foliage and footsteps crunching in the dead underbrush alerted Jack to nearby danger.

_Crap_, Jack cursed silently, and knowing he was fast running out of options, he spun to face his aggressor, Daniel clutched tightly to his chest.

One of the warriors stood nose to nose with him, his eyes feral with the thrill of the chase, and Jack could almost smell the adrenaline flowing through the man's veins. Muscles bunched tightly in his arms, the hunter wielded a large club high in the air, his mouth twisted in a maniacal grin.

"No way in fucking hell!" Jack snarled through clenched teeth.

Then a hand appeared to come from nowhere. Attached to a green BDU-covered arm, it drew a US military issue knife quickly and efficiently across the hunter's exposed throat. The man's murderous scowl instantly morphed into a look of shock as blood pulsed from freshly severed arteries to spray the ground. Heart catching up with what his brain already knew, the warrior dropped bonelessly to the ground, leaving Sam standing in his place, a bloodied knife in her hand.

"Goddamnit, Carter. Cut it any finer?"

"Good to see you too, sir," Sam replied, wiping the bloodied knife on the victim's kilt before re-sheathing it.

With a crooked smile, Jack knew no more words were needed. Sam was a soldier, and she had done her job. He breathed a sigh of relief; thankful her job was good enough.

"Teiuc?" Jack asked, looking either side of her and not seeing the old woman.

"We ran into trouble and parted ways. She managed to get one of the Yahtepec warriors to follow her, making it one less for me to contend with. Said she'd try and meet us at the gate."

Stepping over the body, not sparing it a second glance, Sam rested her hand on Daniel's forehead and grimaced. "Put him down, sir, and let me take a quick look."

Jack nodded and gently lay Daniel down on the soft ground. Adrenaline running low, he could feel himself starting to tire. "Teal'c?"

Kneeling alongside, Sam took in Daniel's pale features while Jack shrugged off his pack. "Taking the scenic route as planned, sir. He's leading three of the Eagle warriors on a path back to the gate."

"What about the rest?"

"I took care of them, though I'd be surprised if they were the only ones." Blunt and to the point, Carter left Jack in no doubt the subject was closed. The debrief could wait till much later.

Pulling a field dressing from the med kit, Sam ripped it open, letting the pale green cloth unfold. "How's he doing?"

Jack shook his head, and with a scowl, pulled back the jacket to reveal the tiny dagger embedded in the flesh beneath. "He's still bleeding. There was no time to stop and remove it so I left it in place. There's something else as well."

"Sir?"

Jack picked up Daniel's limp hand and peered at the fingers closely. "Don't know if it's because I've been carrying him for so long, but I swear he's gotten heavier."

"Teiuc said the affects of the mocuepa wears off quickly after the last dose, do you think…?"

Jack shook his head and shrugged, tucking Daniel's hand back in the folds of the jacket. "Yes, I don't know… maybe. Alien pharmacology isn't exactly my thing, Carter."

"Mine either. I guess we'll find out soon enough."

Sam rifled through the contents of the small med kit, pulling out various items as she went. Snapping on a pair of surgical gloves, she was all business. "We have to take the dagger out, flush the wound, dress it, and get some antibiotics into him."

Jack swallowed deeply and tried not to look at Daniel's pale features in the dim light. Looking at the stocky hilt of the dagger, buried so deep that no portion of the blade could be seen, Jack nodded resolutely and balled his fists. "Stand ready with the bandage and I'll pull the knife. You might need to hold his shoulders."

"You sure, sir?'

Nope, he wasn't but he was going to sound damn convincing. "As ready I'm going to be, Carter." Jack touched the metal hilt of the dagger briefly as Carter, bandage in one hand and the other pressing down on Daniel's shoulder, nodded her readiness.

"On three?"

"Nope," Jack muttered flatly. "Now!" In one quick action, Jack wrapped his hand around the small hilt and pulled the blade out smoothly, tossing it to one side as Sam pressed the field dressing into the oozing wound.

Daniel bolted to awareness, the cry on his lips silenced by Jack's broad hand pressed hard down on his mouth. "Shh," Jack whispered, running his other hand through Daniel's hair while doing a keen three hundred and sixty degree check of their position. "It's out, buddy, just let Carter fix you up, okay?" Finding no sign or sound of movement in their immediate vicinity, Jack brought his attention back to Daniel as his friend's pain-dulled eyes slowly rolled back and slid shut. "Atta boy."

Watching Sam peel back the sopping bandage, Jack cringed as it stuck to the pale skin, ripping away a tiny surface clot. In the meager light afforded by the forest's dead canopy, he could just make out the one inch stab wound moments before it filled with fresh blood.

"Crap! Carter?"

"I got it, sir." Sam pressed a fresh dressing onto the wound and visibly winced when her downward pressure bought forth a soft pain-filled moan.

"Shhh, I'm sorry, honey," Sam whispered, applying extra pressure. "Sir, I want to give him something for the pain but without knowing how it will react with the mocuepa, I'm reluctant to."

Jack pushed back sweat-soaked locks and took a long assessing look at the face hiding beneath them. Pain lines etched the youthful face. Eyes moved restlessly under their lids, locked in a dream, or nightmare, Jack couldn't begin to comprehend. Cupping Daniel's cheek in his hand he could feel the heat from his fevered body and instinctively moved to cover him up again. "We need to move."

Sam shook her head. "I need five minutes to-"

"Carter, that'll put us five minutes further away from the gate and five minutes closer to anyone who might be behind us. He can't afford it."

Like a show of unintentional support, the high pitched thrum of a spear in flight hissed through the air, and Jack knew their time was up.

"Crap, these guys are good. Here." Jack thrust his Beretta into Sam's hand. "Take this and drop in behind me."

"What are you going to do?"

Pulling out a ground sheet from the pack, Jack picked up the boy and bundled him up. With as much tenderness as he could, he rested him against his chest and stood.

"All we can do, Carter. Make straight for the gate and hope like hell Teal'c meets us there."

Not bothering to wait for her reply, Jack took off at a steady trot, the small bundle of heat and misery heavy in his arms. With Daniel's head lolling uncontrolled against his shoulder, Jack had no time to get a better grip.

"Just do me a favor, buddy, and stay asleep."

~oOo~

Teal'c stood over the body of the fallen Eagle warrior, noting the near center bullet hole in the middle of his forehead. A small trail of blood trickled from the wound, skirting the bridge of the man's pronounced nose, to pool in his eye. The death was quick and decisive, much more than any of these people deserved, but Teal'c was more interested in how many he had left still tracking him.

Checking the magazine on his P-90, he cursed the limited ability of the Tau'ri weapon. Whilst a staff weapon was far bulkier, and its aim only as good as the skill of its handler, the power supply was almost endless with little chance of failing in battle – he had no such luxury with the Earth weapon.

The Eagle warriors had lived up to Teiuc's opinion of their skills by forcing Teal'c to use up more of his ammunition than he'd wanted to. Now showing under less than half a magazine left, and with some distance to go before he reached the gate, Teal'c knew he was running on borrowed time. Not bothering to hide the body – there was little point – he set off at a steady jog, his keen senses alert for every sound or movement.

~oOo~

Jack could feel sweat drenching the back of his shirt and trickling down his back to wet the waistband of his pants. The rubbing of wet fabric on his skin irritated him to the point of being a distraction he couldn't afford. Adding to that, Daniel was becoming restless in his arms again.

"Wait up, Carter," he called softly as Daniel moaned loudly and arched his back against Jack's embrace.

Knowing attack would most likely come from behind, Sam had been watching their six and hustled to catch up to her CO. "Daniel?"

"Restless, I need to put him down for a moment, check his wound."

Just as Jack set him down, Daniel's eyes flew open and he let out a keening howl, arching his back and lifting his bottom of the ground. Fists clenched and knuckle white, his breathing sped up. "Shit," Jack cursed and immediately turned him onto his side. "I think he's seizing!"

"I don't think so, sir," Carter added, her voice flushed with surprise as she tore her gaze away from watching their position to focus on Daniel. "It's the mocuepa. Look at his legs."

Muscles rippled and contracted as Daniel's legs stiffened, his feet twisting at odd angles, caught in the throes of powerful spasms. Jack clamped one hand over Daniel's mouth, and with the other, he tried to pin him to the ground, but it was useless.

Trapped inside the confines of the closed jacket, Daniel's arm movements were so violent, Jack feared they would break through the tough fabric. Head jerked back involuntarily, face bunched in pain, Daniel tried to scream but Jack held fast, holding back a curse as Daniel bit into his hand.

"A little help, Carter!" Jack hissed between clenched teeth as another wave of pain stole Daniel away and left his body twisting and contorting as the mocuepa gradually left his system, slowly reversing its hideous effect.

~oOo~

The massive Stargate loomed in the distance, rising from a watery mirage created by the midday sun. Teal'c stopped for a moment, bending over with one hand on his knee to catch his breath while checking the trail behind him.

He knew he was still being tracked but he also knew he'd gained some distance on his pursuers by disguising his tracks. It wouldn't take them long to discover his clever ruse – altering the shape of his tread by attaching branches and scrub to his boots with reeded bushes – but he was happy to take every extra minute he could buy.

To the right of the gate he could just make out the small statue Daniel Jackson had taken an interest in when they'd first arrived, and beyond that, a grove of dead trees marking what he presumed was the dead forest the rest of his team would be hiding in.

Taking another quick look over his shoulder and finding no immediate threat, Teal'c hefted his P-90 across his arms and set off towards the Stargate again.

Following a well worn path on its natural curve towards the gate, Teal'c slowed and dropped to one knee, raising his weapon as a hunched figure came bursting out of a coppice of dense scrub. Bare-chested, long hair whipping across her face in the light breeze, Teal'c recognized Teiuc and eased his finger away from the trigger.

"Please," Teiuc coughed, stumbling down on one knee with her arms flying forward to stop her falling to the ground. "He is right behind me!" she pleaded, looking back over her shoulder.

At that moment one of the Eagle guards flew out of the coppice behind her, feather circled shield protecting his chest, a heavy club held high above his head on a sickening downward plunge.

"Down!" Teal'c cried, shouldering his P-90, and without checking his aim, let loose a short burst of rounds into the warrior, watching in satisfaction as the man's body danced under the impact of the bullets before it was flung backwards to land in a twisted heap on the ground.

Teiuc raised her head from the hot earth, nodded her thanks at Teal'c, and then turned to look at the bullet riddled body, eyes wide. Forcing herself up off the ground, she dusted down her skirt and gathered in her wild hair. "I fear I am getting too old for this type of adventure," she crowed, running a hand across her face and smiling at him wryly.

~oOo~

"If that's not P-90 fire!" Jack pushed Daniel's head into the crook of his neck and hugged his small body firm against his chest. "Has to be Teal'c."

"Or reinforcements from the SGC?"

"Not likely, Carter. Our first check-in wasn't for forty-eight hours. Dollars to donuts, our Jaffa has bagged himself some feathers."

"Sir?" Sam flashed him a puzzled expression. "Feathers?"

"Just an observation," he muttered. "Which way?"

"Teal'c was following the path toward the gate so we should head towards him."

"And straight into trouble?" Jack shook his head dourly. "Can't chance it, Carter. We press on towards the gate."

Sam nodded stiffly. "The woods have been thinning out. We can't be that far off."

"Too far for my liking."

Branches rustling, the crunching of dried leaves on an even drier forest floor caught Jack and Sam's attention simultaneously. Added to their misery, a breeze was blowing softly through the dead grove, cleverly concealing all but the most thunderous of enemy approach. "This day can't get any worse," Jack muttered under his breath as Daniel wriggled restlessly in his arms. "Pick up the pace, Carter."

~oOo~

The grove of dead and decaying trees gradually thinned out, and with a barely restrained "hallelujah", Jack could make out the shining upper curve of the Stargate above the woody horizon.

Daniel was virtually vibrating in his arms, and Jack was left with no doubt if they didn't get to the gate soon, his friend would suffer another debilitating growth spurt. He was getting harder to hold now.

Where they'd started this trek with a boy of barely four or five, Jack was now trying to grapple a child, he guessed, of around ten. On the few times Daniel had woken, his terrified, pain filled gaze had bored a hole in Jack's heart, the lack of recognition scaring him more than he'd wanted to admit.

No one had said it out loud, and if Teiuc knew the answer to their unspoken question, she'd chosen to keep it to herself, but they all held their doubts as to whether the Daniel they would be left with would be the same person they had started out with.

"Sir."

Startled, Jack shuddered, realizing he'd been caught daydreaming and hadn't even noticed they'd reached the edge of the forest, the Stargate looming off in the distance.

"Anything?" He looked towards Carter then back out at the gate, brows raised questioningly, hoping for some sign of Teal'c.

"Not a thing." Sam's face mirrored his concern.

"Weapons fire had to come from somewhere, Carter."

Sam's frown deepened before the shock of realization dawned. "You don't think they're using our own weapons against us?"

"What?"

"We only recovered one of our P-90's, sir."

"They're not that clever, Carter, I wouldn't-" Jack's words were cut short as a club came sailing through the air, glancing Sam's shoulder and skipping across the surface of the parched ground. "Crap," he shouted, instinctively staggering under Daniel's weight as his 2IC fell to the ground heavily. Wincing and whispering a harried apology, Jack lifted Daniel high in his arms and up over one shoulder, leaving his other hand free to pull Carter up to her knees.

"Carter!"

"Wha'," Sam slurred, pressing a hand to her injured shoulder and looking around with a dazed expression.

"Move, Major!" Jack barked testily, hoping the order would snap her out of her stupor as the crashing of undergrowth behind them told him their time was well and truly up.

Heaving Carter to her feet, one hand holding Daniel steady across the back of his legs, Jack pushed forward, determined to drag what was left of his team to the gate if he had to.

Chest heaving, one arm looped around Carter's waist, Jack knew taking time pinpointing the enemy's location was a wasted effort. "One foot in front of the other, Colonel. You've done this before."

High pitching wails broke through Jack's concentration like a knife, attacking his senses and taunting him mercilessly, and he was instantly drawn to the memory of an old western movie with Indians breaking the tree line and slaughtering a caravan load of new settlers. He imagined he could feel the hot breath of the Yahtepec warriors on his neck, almost see their murderous scowls in his mind as they broke out of the forest and crossed the distance between them with far greater speed than he could move his team.

"Carter," he hissed, spit dribbling down his chin to mix with sweat and dirt. He got no answer though, and he could tell at a glance she was barely staying upright, a pool of blood blossoming from an unseen wound on her shoulder.

The closer the warriors came, the more Jack toyed with the idea of stopping and making a last stand until a strong arm broke between him and Carter, and tried to rip her away. Doggedly advancing towards the gate, his body so flooded with adrenaline he could only focus on that one shiny point in the distance, Jack struggled to hold on to her with all his strength.

"I have her, O'Neill."

"Teal'c?" Jack blinked his confusion as Teal'c pushed through and scooped Carter up over his shoulder and turned around, his weapon held outstretched in his arms.

"My ammunition is running low. You must get to the gate while you can."

"How many?" Jack demanded hotly, the sound of approaching forces growing steadily.

"Many. Hurry."

Jack didn't need telling twice.

To be continued…


	9. Chapter 9

Sirens screeched throughout the SGC, and with a shrug of his shoulders and a quick look at the clock on his desk, General George Hammond rose and strode from the office down towards the control room.

Activity buzzed like a hive all around him. Exiting the stairs into the crowded control room, he could make out SF's taking up position around the partially lit up Stargate.

"Are we expecting anyone, Walter?"

Sargent Harriman pushed his chair away from the console with practiced ease, hauling himself along to the left until he was level with a small computer monitor. Fingers dancing over the keyboard, he looked up from his position and gave the General a concerned look. "No, sir."

"Who do we have off world?"

"SG's 1, 12, and 13. SG-1 is not due to check in for another day, SG's 12 and 13 are both on a joint exercise at the Alpha site."

With a barely perceptible nod, Hammond turned his gaze back towards the giant gate just as the last chevron locked in place. With a majesty that never failed to impress even the most seasoned member of the SGC, the room was instantly bathed in a brilliant azure haze as the forming wormhole billowed out across the gate ramp before settling within the confines of the Stargate ring.

"IDC?"

"Coming in now, sir. Confirming SG-1's identification code."

Experience had taught George one thing. Never get in a betting pool over an unscheduled off world activation when SG-1 was out in the field. "Damn," he cursed, reaching over Walter and flicking on the base PA system. "Medical team to the Gateroom!"

~oOo~

Janet Fraiser thought she'd seen it all. Thinking back to her experiences with a cloned and much younger Colonel O'Neill, she really should have known there were still more mysteries through the Stargate than would ever be discovered in her time, but this particular set of circumstances defied reason.

Downsizing a person? Regressing them back to a younger age?

The first question that crossed her mind - scientific curiosity definitely piqued – was how? The aging process was tied up with time and the progressive changes that came with advancing age. Physical ability decreased, psychological variants came into play that inevitably affected not only the physical aspect of aging, but the social as well.

Aging was a god-given, a fact of life, but since joining the Stargate program and being introduced to the Goa'uld, even that notion had been turned on its ear.

This was going to the extreme opposite though.

So how would a body react from being a thirty nine year old adult to a child of around four years of age, and then growing all the way back up to adulthood again in quick order? Well, Janet was sure she had no idea and yet here she was seated at the bedside of a man who had, only a few short days ago, done exactly that.

Janet looked over at Daniel's lax features and smiled warmly. A handsome man, he made an adorable child, and Janet had spent a considerable amount of time fending off the 'cooing' members of her nursing staff. Daniel, of course, had been totally oblivious to everything going on around him.

When he'd first landed Earth-side in Colonel O'Neill's arms he was in the throes of what could only be described as a growth 'seizure'. The sight was as intriguing as it was terrifying, but Janet's duty of care won over in an instant, and she whisked Daniel off on a gurney to the infirmary, marshaling her troops and barking orders.

Sedation had been the key. She'd been left with no choice really. Whilst admitting openly she had no experience with such rapid growth, and defying anyone to say they did, she settled for running the gauntlet of every possible test she could think of, and some she wasn't sure actually existed.

Daniel wasn't co-operating though.

Thrashing against the orderlies and his own team mates as they tried to hold him down, it was obvious he had no idea where he was or who he was with. His eyes had that faraway look, as he seemed to focus on all and nothing, and despite their efforts to calm him down, Janet had resorted to sedation.

"Stupid," she hissed, looking over his blood work and frowning at her own hasty judgment. So frantic had she been to calm Daniel down, she didn't even wait for his results to come back from the labs. What if the sedation drugs had interacted adversely with the alien compound?

"Doc?"

Janet shuddered in surprise, blushing at being caught in her own thoughts, and looked up at Colonel O'Neill's worry-drawn features. "Sir?"

Rocking back on his heels, hands fisted in his pockets, Jack cocked his head towards the bed, a small smile tugging on his lips. "How is he?"

"Big?"

Jack sighed audibly and threw her an 'over the glasses' glare, brows raised.

"He's fine, sir. The alien chemical in his blood has completely left his system."

Jack relaxed visibly and shuffled his way around the bed, snagging the corner of a plastic infirmary chair with his foot, and sinking down in it heavily. "So why hasn't he woken up?" Leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, face in hands, he looked like he'd aged with worry.

"His body has just endured, not only the process of regressing in age, but then growing up all over again. And in quick time. I'm not surprised he's still sleeping."

"And you're sure that's all that's happening?"

Janet laid her hand over the top of Daniel's and held it lightly, noting the warmth of his skin. "Along with all the other tests we've performed, his EEG came back normal as well. His body has been put under a great deal of stress, give him some time."

"Half my team is laid out, Doc. Time is something I've got plenty of."

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Janet nodded her understanding with a tight smile. Jack O'Neill was often not a patient man, though she wearily conceded he was more tolerant now than the brusque officer she met when she first joined the program. Without a doubt this extraordinary team of his had quite a lot to do with it, and probably Daniel Jackson in particular. "I'll be releasing Major Carter to quarters later this afternoon, sir."

"Her shoulder?"

Janet shrugged. "PT and hydrotherapy will see her back on active duty within a month, assuming the world doesn't need saving between now and then."

"Good." Jack leaned back and scrubbed a hand through his hair, eyes closed. "That's real good."

"You know you could try getting some rest, sir."

"I'm fine."

"And nothing I say will change your mind?"

Jack didn't answer. Blinking slowly, he let his gaze slide back down to Daniel's face and held it there, staring intently as though willing him to wake up. "Think I'll just sit here for a while if you don't mind."

"Of course." Janet knew when it was time to leave. Checking the various monitoring equipment at her patient's bedside, and smoothing out the chest high blanket, she gathered Daniel's chart and left the colonel to his vigil.

~oOo~

"This is amazing, sir."

"Carter?"

"After all we've been through these last few days, there isn't a part of you that isn't curious?"

Daniel had lain quietly, listening to Jack and Sam banter back and forth for a while now. The almost insistent cadence of Sam's voice, more than anyone's, had pulled him from a deep sleep to the cusp of consciousness, only to be dragged down again when her voice tapered off, or the deeper tones of Jack and Teal'c took over.

Along with this furtive taste of consciousness came pain. His whole body ached, sang its discomfort without him having moved a muscle, and Daniel began to panic as his mind raced to track down his last waking memories.

"The answer to their problems was in front of them the whole time," Sam continued enthusiastically.

_What problem?_ Daniel's memories were vague and scattered. He could latch on to a thread and try to follow it to its end, but the image would fade like a dream, taunting him.

"I'm going to hear this whether I want to or not, aren't I, Carter?'

"Teal'c?"

"I am most interested to hear of your findings, Major Carter."

Jack, Sam, Teal'c. There was something he had to tell them. Without warning, the stench of rotten meat and sweaty bodies assaulted his senses, making Daniel nauseous, and he grimly held back the urge to throw up.

"Whoa."

Rough hands grabbed at him, raising him in the air, and the room – a hut? – listed sideways as his vision greyed at the edges.

"Daniel?"

A strong hand gripped his chin so tightly, his jaw locked painfully as his head was thrust backwards.

"Carter, get Fraiser!"

Liquid so bitter, it burnt his throat. A hand forcibly clamped across his mouth, blocking his nose and forcing him to swallow.

"Come on, buddy."

Pain so intense he felt like his blood was boiling, cooking him from the inside out.

"Daniel!"

"Na'"

He couldn't move. More hands were holding him down, locking his arms and legs in place, while his body twisted and contorted involuntarily.

"Open you eyes, come on."

"Colonel?"

"He's trying to wake up, Doc."

Wake up? That's it!

Light flared in his right eye and then just as suddenly in his left, and he tried to turn away from its burning glare.

Then silence. Nothing.

"Daniel?"

Fingers tapped his cheek, with just enough pressure to let him know someone was there with him.

"S'tri'k."

"What?" Jack voice ghosted his ear and Daniel shuddered at the closeness.

"S'tri'k." His mind processed the words well enough. He knew what he needed to tell them but the words weren't coming out right, and his tongue felt thick and numb. "S' a tri'k."

"A trick?" Jack whispered, still so close to Daniel's ear, the warmth of his breath tickled his neck. "Yeah, buddy, we kinda figured that part out."

Scrunching his eyes tightly and then relaxing them, Daniel cracked one eyelid open and then the other, giving himself a moment to adjust to the subdued lighting in the infirmary. "Home?"

"However so humble it is, yep."

Nodding minimally, Daniel winced and bit back a groan as a point of pain blossomed in his shoulder. Instantly regretting the action, he reached up to rub the area, clenching his fist to stop it from shaking.

"Aht," Jack cautioned, taking Daniel's hand in his own and tucking it back down under the covers. "I probably wouldn't be touching that if I was you. Doc won't like it if you mess with her handiwork."

"Handiwork?" Daniel slurred, trying to look across at his shoulder but gave up, the effort leaving him drained and sliding back towards sleep. "Sam? Teal'c?"

"Here, Daniel." Sam's soft voice seemed far off, but he gave up wondering where she was when a hand squeezed his foot through the blankets.

"I too am here, Daniel Jackson."

"Good," Daniel mumbled, helpless to stop himself falling towards sleep.

~oOo~

"That's incredible, Sam!"

"Isn't it? And sad as well. All those lives lost appeasing gods that were most likely Goa'ulds all along, and the whole problem with their civilization came down to a plant that grew like a weed."

Jack kept his face schooled but on the inside he was as proud as a papa bear watching his cubs crawl for the first time. Okay, so half of his team still looked more than a little worse for wear. Carter sported a sling that supported her heavily bound shoulder, courtesy of a well-aimed club that had laid his 2IC out like a pro fighter, but she was back on the mend.

Daniel was still confined to bed, wearing a matching sling that he had done his utmost to avoid wearing when Doc Fraiser was not watching. He claimed he didn't need the thing, that the knife wound was barely a scratch. He wasn't far off either. Even Fraiser shook her head with weary disbelief as the wound appear to heal with each growth spurt Daniel had endured. Still, erring on the side of caution, and probably to make herself feel useful, she'd insisted he wear the sling until she was satisfied the weight of his arm wouldn't open the cut back up.

Slumped back in a chair, feet on the end of Daniel's bed, Jack tried to look like he was sleeping but was sure he was fooling no one. Despite not being overly interested in the Doc and Carter's 'incredible' discovery, he took the time to listen in on the details, fearful, like so many other times, the conversation points might come back to haunt him.

Truth be told, he found himself drawn to Carter and Daniel's conversation more for the fact that Daniel had no memory whatsoever of what had happened to him at the hands of the Yahtepec.

Teiuc pretty much confirmed this would be the case. In her past experiences with the drug, she had told them the supplicants they had exposed the mocuepa to had retained no memories of their former lives. A benefit when it came to hiding the shame of the Yahtepec. No one wanted to be reminded of the crimes they had committed. How convenient for them.

So, as Daniel steadily recovered from his ordeal, the rest of SG-1 had the task of filling him in on the details. Jack snorted softly, reliving the myriad of expressions that washed over their archeologist's face as he tried to digest some of the truly bizarre events. In typical Daniel fashion he seemed to take his downsizing and subsequent upsizing in an almost clinical fashion, asking all his team and Doctor Fraiser the difficult questions, and nodding studiously at their answers.

Still, Jack knew this was affecting Daniel more deeply than he let on. Tiring quickly, his body still recovering from the tremendous strain it had endured in such short order, Jack could sense the turmoil in his friend when he tried to sleep. Frown lines deepening as he stared off into nothingness before relaxing into sleep, and the tenseness in his muscles that had more to do with worry, and maybe a tinge of embarrassment, than it had to do with soreness.

Today though, barely three days since returning, Daniel seemed more at ease, accepting his team's first hand account of events and appearing genuinely buoyed with the discovery of the answer to the Yahtepec's population issues.

Jack was a bit more forward about these types of problems, even though he understood how a civilization could become so wrapped up in its own belief system or religion, all reasoning and common sense flew out the proverbial window.

Many wars had been fought in the name of religious and moral beliefs, and long after the bodies had been buried, the issues that started them had been forgotten. So it was with these people.

They now knew that all this time the Yahtepec were sacrificing their children to gain favor with their gods, when all they had to do was find an alternate food source.

Teiuc's lab results held the key. In her blood, the pathology team found a chemical with such amazing properties – yep, that was the word Carter used – they had themselves stumbling over each other to write papers they'd likely never publish.

Whatever this chemical was, it had the ability to prolong life, but with the added side effect of rendering the population infertile. Jack still didn't understand how Fraiser and her team worked it all out, and with visions of lab mice in his head, he really didn't want to know.

When words such as enzymes and vegetable compounds were being tossed into the conversation, Jack had finally bought a clue and realized they're talking about it being in something in the local diet. Teiuc once again provided the answer. Hetcul, the native equivalent of potatoes for the Irish, was the basic dietary item on the Yahtepec menu, and the only plant that could be successfully grown in such harsh conditions.

Carter theorized the Yahtepec, with their primitive lifestyle unchanged for thousands of years, had become the victims of their own religion and sought to find the answer to their problems with their gods, instead of investigating their own lifestyle. Teiuc argued that her people have always been guided by the wisdom of the High Priest, the gods having chosen him as their mantle, and they knew no other way. To them, their ability to bear children was explicitly linked to how their gods viewed their behavior… and the Yahtepec had not been favored at all.

All of this concerned Daniel greatly. Jack knew it would. Mr Gotta-save-everyone took the discovery in his stride, marveled at how such an innocuous plant could drive a people to such desperate measures without them truly knowing the source of their problems. Jack felt like pointing out that the ancient Aztec of Earth had gone down the same evolutionary path as their alien descendants, and for quite different reasons, but seeing him awake for more than half an hour in one stretch was more important, so he let the issue slide. Besides, just bringing up the subject meant he could look forward to a discussion on comparative cultural social customs and divergences, and Jack was already annoyed at knowing what the words meant and how to use them in a sentence.

Years in the presence of one Doctor Daniel Jackson were starting to rub off on him.

Cracking one eye open to focus on his two scientists, Jack could almost see the cogs of Daniel's mind picking up speed as a plan slowly unfurled itself. _Any moment now_, Jack mused.

"Jack?"

Damn, the man was scary! Taking his feet of the bed and sitting up straight in his chair, Jack conceded he couldn't hide behind his eyelids any longer. He knew without a doubt what Daniel wanted -a neon sign couldn't have announced it any plainer. No way was it going to happen though. Hammond already had the planet locked out of the dialing computer, and nothing would make him change his mind.

"Nope."

"No?" Daniel peered at Jack over the rims of his glasses and frowned. "What do you mean 'no'? You don't even know what I'm going to say."

"Don't have to. You want to go back there, tell them you've discovered the cause of their problems, all under the guise of a humanitarian effort."

Daniel blinked and whispered with a touch of awe, "How do you do that?"

"National secret," Jack snorted. "Besides, I already tossed the idea at Hammond and he nixed it."

"Y-you did?" Daniel stammered, appearing a little lost for words. "How very caring of you."

"Give me credit, Daniel. I might not like their methods but I'm not heartless."

"No, no, I didn't mean that. So why did he nix it?"

"He didn't at first, but when we dialed the planet and sent through a MALP, they were waiting for us. Destroyed it before we could establish audio. Second MALP went the same way. It's too dangerous to send anyone through."

Hands wide and pleading, Daniel shrugged. "So? What? We're just going to stand back and hold the answer to their survival in our hands?"

"Look, I get where you're coming from. I do. But you have to understand, we barely got out of there with our lives. If Luc hadn't had a change of heart at the last moment, we'd all be dead. Teiuc is fairly certain, and I have to agree, that Luc is no longer in charge, and it's a fair bet Zolin is. The man is a religious zealot, Daniel, and there is no dealing with him. Maybe we can try dialing back in later when it's all died down, but for now, Hammond has locked it out of the system and the subject is closed. Not everyone can be saved."

Daniel scrubbed a hand through his hair in frustration, and shook his head wearily. "What about Teiuc? She can't go back and there's not much call for her talents at the SGC. Integrating her into our society could be a real problem."

Jack smiled, knowing this was one question he could answer with a sense of satisfaction on a job well done. "She's on her way down to Mexico right now."

"Mexico?" Daniel squinted at Jack with a puzzled expression. "You didn't?"

"We did. Lieutenant Brackman has relatives in an Aztec settlement just outside Mexico City and the Air Force is paying to have her settled there."

"Brackman?" Daniel smiled. "Not your usual Aztec name."

"Her mother married outside the family."

"You asked, didn't you?"

"Well, with a name like Brackman I was kinda curious. So…" Jack slapped his thigh, pursed his lips, and stood up. "Are we all good?"

Daniel shrugged his good shoulder, and Carter, ominously silent, shrugged hers, as Jack shook the niggling pain in both his bad knees, silently conceding that - Teal'c aside - his team definitely wouldn't pass as pin-up fodder for advertising the SGC's fitness program at the moment, but at least they we're all still in one piece.

It could have been so much worse.

More than he could say for the Yahtepec.

The End


End file.
